Market Update Week: Real Estate Insights | Blog

The Changing Seasons of Real Estate

Do you agree with me? January and February just felt really long and as if we hadn't reached our footing for 2025. Maybe the cold, ice and snow slowed us down more than we thought. It certainly left people spinning their wheels on driveways in treacherous conditions, If you can't leave your house, you certainly were not putting it up for sale.

The public school vacation hit and temperatures started trending warmer and in turn the real estate market woke up! Last week we saw a healthy amount of new listings that then went under contract. Some were sold with one strong offer that the seller accepted and others sold after a flurry of activity and many bids all at one. This balance continues to keep inventory low and as the WSJ reported, "a strangled supply (in the Northeast and Midwest) should support property prices." Looking at this from a high level, that is not the case in Florida and Texas where that same article claims inventories are rising higher than the pre-pandemic levels.

Not every property is picked up by a buyer right away. The public is wary of overpriced listings and quite savvy to pricing these days. Locally the average days on the market for homes lingering on MLS ranges from 40 to 100 days and counting, depending on the town. Price reductions are the next step when that happens. The ultra-luxury homes are taking longer to sell and there are many of them in our towns. A great opportunity to trade up into the high-end if you can. Our "new" upper end reaches up to $10 Million or more and those properties take time to sell.

Interest rates are also cooperating- somewhat.

It's realistic to find an adjustable mortgage in the mid 5% range now.

This helps buyers afford more which in turn will help sellers.

Now is the time to observe and see where the selling season takes us, but I predict it to be a good one that is more balanced for buyers and sellers- with scenarios where there are some bidding wars. Not the same climate we had just a few years ago. A correction? Not yet, but more give and take between buyers and sellers than we are used to.