Will it be a Buyer's Market this year?

Due to home prices slowing, interest rates holding and more inventory on the market, we may be heading into a "Buyer's Market" this spring. Traditionally, the week of the ATT Pro Am marks the beginning or our local "selling season". Sellers like to take advantage of the influx of visitors and they feel that it's a good time to expose homes to the market. The reality seems to be that it generates a lot of looking but not necessarily a lot of buying.

New listings are coming to market and since less homes were removed during the holidays, inventory is now up about 15% over last year. The biggest trend continues to be price reductions. Sellers are now coming to terms with the fact that buyers have hit the breaks and are waiting for price adjustments.

Here are some market updates from a January 2019 presentation from California Association of Realtors:

• 97.4% Sales Price to List Price

• Sales are down double digits, lowest sales since early 2015

• Monterey County dropped 30% year over year in Single Family home sales

• Active Listings in the Single Family Homes category are up across the Bay Area & Monterey County

• Days on Market increased to 32 days

• Sales are down across California, lowest since 2015

• Price reductions are up statewide

• Price growth remains near 2012 numbers

• Housing Confidence survey is at 83.5%

First quarter is just getting rolling but if interest rates continue to hold and prices continue to come down, buyers might start heating up the market again. We'll have to see what happens.

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