Agent Outlook: Life events will still drive home sales, you can hang your hat on it

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Information is power, but only when you use it to take action, implement change, and teach others. How can you take the information below and put it to use with your clients and your fellow agents? 

Here’s what you need to know this week: 

• While showings may be down, it’s consistent. Predictability at least gives you a better way to explain the market to your clients. 
• Sellers are optimizing to be more conservative and are setting prices on the lower end.  
• Demand is lower. Higher price point homes are harder to move than they were 12 months ago. Homes not selling are above $1M. 
• Inventory levels were higher than they were last year; however, they are the second lowest in history. Totally inventory homes for sale in the United States is down 1% from last week. 
• We are expected to end the year with less than 500,000 single-family houses to sell. And the projected year-end inventory is being reduced each week. 
• Rising interest rates are a big cause for lack of demand. 
• Home prices next year may remain flat, though it remains to be seen if the real value will diminish or not. 
• Fewer buyers equal fewer sellers. Typically people buy based on life events rather than affordability. 
• Two-thirds of the market is seeing a slight pricing pullback – these are micro markets. Your market may have a different reality. 
•  The percentage of properties with recent price reductions has plateaued to about 40%. 
• There are more builders entering the market than leaving, which is a good thing for everyone. There are still builders who expect money to be made. 
• Fewer listings are coming to the market. In fact, 25% fewer new listings than expected.

What agents should consider in today’s market:

• As you look at strategies moving forward – are you focused on selling luxury homes or will you pivot? 
• We are not selling real estate – we are consulting on how to change their present reality to get to the awareness of negative present to positive future. This is the psychology of change and should be studied and understood by agents. 
• Only 8% of the realtor population has sold more than four houses in the first six months of the year. This is a great opportunity to get into business with talented people. And, if you are above this metric, how do you present that data to your consumer? 
• Always set expectations upfront with your clients and customers. 

Editor’s Note: Altos Research is credited for most of the statistical data provided in this outlook series.

Eric Forney is the Director of Industry for Livian. For more information, visit www.livian.com.