September 2019
With the kids back in school and the weather cooling, the housing market begins its annual cooldown as well. Nationally, buyer and seller activity remained strong, buoyed by low mortgage rates and a strong economy. The market fundamentals suggest no significant changes from recent trends, other than the seasonally tempered pace we see this time of year. As we move into the final three months of 2019, buyers will find fewer homes coming on the market, but also less competition for those homes.
New Listings were up 27.4 percent to 1,361. Pending Sales increased 28.6 percent to 1,143. Inventory grew 7.8 percent to 3,363 units.
Prices moved lower as Median Sales Price was down 0.6 percent to $175,865. Days on Market decreased 5.6 percent to 51 days. Months Supply of Inventory was up 3.7 percent to 2.8 months, indicating that supply increased relative to demand.
In Washington there are discussions around a broad overhaul of the housing finance system, including the re-privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and reforms to federal agencies involved with financing substantial portions of the mortgages made every year. Many of these policy conversations and eventual changes will take months or years to be implemented and their impact is not yet clear. While Halloween decorations are beginning to adorn homes around the country, the real estate market this fall is looking far from scary.
Information courtesy of CMLS*
