REAL ESTATE MARKET UPDATE JULY 2023

It is time for our first half of 2023 Real Estate Market Review.


Now that we've moved through the first half of the year, it's time for a review. What happened in our real estate market in that time period, the first six months of the year? So let's start, let's tackle sales first. So what happened with sales in the first half of 2023, sales were down 21.88% when compared to the same first six months of 2022. Probably not unexpected. We all have kind of been seeing these lower numbers, home sales have been down, we know that.

There are a couple of things I think to bear in mind as we see that number. First, it's still compared against some really, high-performing sales months when the market was really flying high in the first half of last year. So we're comparing against some pretty tough numbers.

We're also seeing the impact of higher interest rates for certain that's had an impact on home sales and also the continued low inventory. So there's really three things to consider there. We're comparing against some high numbers from last year. Thus we're down quite a bit, we are definitely in a higher interest rate environment than we were 12 months ago, and we're still continuing to see home inventory, the amount of available homes for sale, being very low, which is tamping down home sales as well.

So it's kind of a combination of all those things that we see home sales down 21.88% I suspect in the months moving forward, we're gonna start to see the percent that we're down, lighten up a little bit. Those numbers will probably be more, the lower teens perhaps, or maybe the high single digits, something like that.

Average sale prices have continued to rise when compared to last year. Right now for homes that sold and closed in the first half of this year, those average sale prices are up 5.55% compared to the same six months of last year. So while home sales have definitely fallen, home, prices continue to rise. They're not rising at the pace they were back in the roaring 2020, 2021 real estate markets, but we're definitely still seeing positive growth of home prices. When we were at the height of the market, we were seeing home prices increase 14 to 18% over the previous year. Now we're seeing home prices still increasing, although not quite at that same rate. Now we're seeing more of hovering around that 6% range, 5 to 6% that home prices are up year over year. So home prices are definitely increasing.

Click here to find out what your home would sell for in today’s market?

We're seeing no signs, no evidence at all that will lead us to think home prices are headed the other way that home prices will fall anytime soon.

Days on market for those properties that did sell in the first half of this year, sold in an average of 24 days. That compares to 17 days last year for the same time. Both are still really fast times compared to historical markets. You know, in a more normal, balanced real estate market, which we haven't seen for quite a long time, you would see average days on market be 60, 70, 80 days before a home might sell on average. Now we're seeing this year so far, 24 days, which is still quite remarkable. The very best listings, the very nicest ones priced correctly are still sold in a matter of a day or two.

We're seeing them come off really fast. What we are seeing, when you look at those homes that sold and closed in the first six months of this year, 81.5 percent of those homes sold in the first 30 days on the market. So almost all of the inventory coming on is coming off again very quickly. And those homes sold for 101.19% of list price. So on average, the new listings coming on the market sell in less than 30 days and they sell for more than list price.

It's still quite remarkable the market we're in, even though we're seeing the home sales falling, home prices are rising and things are selling very quickly. It's a quick-moving market.

The things that are at play that'll continue to be in play and affecting this market are interest rates. What happens with them moving forward? Is the Fed going to continue to push the envelope and drive rates even higher? It kind of seems that way. Only time will tell on that what happens with mortgage rates exactly. But as of this moment with rates close to 7% and we’re starting to hear economists and industry leaders in the real estate space talk about the potential that we could get to 8% interest rates. This will definitely bear watching moving forward on how that has an impact.

And of course, inventory of homes for sale if it continues to run at a pace that it is, as it is right now, down about 18 to 20% over last year when we were already low on inventory, that's certainly going to have an impact on sales as well, if that kind of a trajectory continues.

If you have any questions about the real estate market, perhaps you want more localized information to your area or neighborhood, please reach out. We're happy to help!

If you would like to know what your home is worth, give us a call at 513-657-2500. We're happy to put together a report for you on what your home would sell for in today's market, should you choose to do so.