December is always seasonally wacky, but here for what it’s worth are the final graphs for 2023. Months of inventory declined a bit, and rates declined more than a bit, but prices weakened last month nonetheless.
Although buyers have gained a decent amount of ground in recent months (best illustrated IMO by the steady rise in months of inventory), it still feels like we are stuck in “standoff” territory for now. Let’s see what the new year brings.
The biggest issue I see is new listings are still lagging. I’m seeing it each day I check the new listings around town. As rates have fallen a bit more buyers will return. More buyers will jump in as they continue dropping for fear that even lower rates will bring even more competition. I expect supply to pick up but I just don’t see the supply picking enough to fill all the orders. This is one big mess and it isn’t getting better anytime soon.
And the industry which is already bleeding is gonna suffer even more attrition. This is gonna send young agents into the hospitality industry and older agents into retirement. That will generate some inventory as they sell homes to fund the retirements most never adequately planned for but it will be negligible to inventory levels in the grand scheme of things.