Fall Real Estate Update By Mike Kenyon

Happy Fall!?The changing season has brought a change to the Bay Area real estate market as well.?While not all bad, this year has had it's up's and downs like no other real estate market I have been a part of the past 14 years.?

In winter/spring we saw record price growth across all properties regardless of what condition and where they were located. Interest rates were then raised at a historically rapid pace sort of freezing the market or causing a self inflicted economic slowdown I like to to refer to it as.?Now that we are in mid-fall we are starting to see properties sell quicker again and prices stabilize.?It is very typical in our areas for prices to fall in the summer than rebound in the fall which is what we have been seeing lately.?I always tell clients that you want to be a buyer in the Summer and a seller in the Spring, Fall and Winter.?

Some of the rebound has been due to stocks doing better and consumers getting used to rates as the new normal as well as the realistic fear that rates will continue to increase.?When rates shot up many buyers who were looking for many months decided to exit the market and there was a little lag time before the new set of buyers we are seeing have emerged accepting the rates for what they are.?

Local and national news have been telling a different story but keep in mind their data relies on closed sales so they are always trailing this quickly changing market by 30-60 days.?

I believe in the next year we will see a decline of inventory in our market because people who are locked in at a 3% interest rate or lower are not as motivated to sell and purchase at a much higher rate unless they have life events where the benefit of moving outweighs the cost.?This should keep prices from slipping in the foreseeable future.?

There are still a lot of reasons for both buyers and sellers to make a move in this current market.?With market instability the easy answer is to do nothing but I can make the case for both buyers and sellers it does not make sense to wait if they are on the fence.?

If you know anyone looking to buy or sell real estate let me know by sending me a message or contacting me at 408-529-0248/[email protected] and I'd love to have an educated conversation with them on the benefits and risks of making a move right now.