It’s been a very busy real estate market this past winter as buyers and sellers aren’t waiting around for Spring’s warmer weather. With fewer new homes available for sale and plenty of buyers in the market, competition for homes is as high as ever. But as home prices, interest rates, and inflation continue to rise, it’s unclear if our local real estate market will continue to see the buying frenzy of last year.

To illustrate the activity in the market, the following charts will reinforce what you’ve heard in the news and from your friends, family, and neighbors.

The first chart shows the number of homes for sale by School district over the last 5 years. The winter months are usually lower but the past 3 months have been significantly lower with far fewer homes for sale. Home for sale have been selling quickly so the historically small number of homes for sale is no surprise.

With so few listings available to see, the number of showings per listing shows how much demand there is for homes. The number of showings per listing is as high as it was last Spring so there are plenty of buyers out shopping. But with prices already high, there may be fewer buyers that can actually pay the higher prices and/or make as strong an offer.

Below you can see the number of new listings is down but not dramatically. There are fewer new listings during the winter months so we will see what the Spring has to bring. Each year, the spring months have seen a spike in new listings and we hope that happens again this year.

Finally, the value of homes over the past 5 years has been climbing – especially in 2021. We aren’t sure what 2022 will bring yet but the lack of homes available to purchase will probably continue.

So if you are planning to sell your home, now would be the time to do it as long as you have a plan for where you will move to. If you are planning to buy a home, we recommend getting yourself prepared financially first. Then we can help you see as many homes as possible so you can learn about the market. And then we can help you find the right home and prepare a strong offer.