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The housing market usually slows down in the fall and winter after the spring-and-summer selling season, but that trend might not hold this year.
In September, existing home sales were anemic while pending home sales soared. Pending home sales, a leading indicator of the market for existing homes, rose nearly 7.5%, much more than expected.
That, however, was when mortgage rates had fallen to just above 6% — those rates have risen quite a bit since then. In the last few weeks, they’ve risen again to around 6.75%.
All of this makes for a housing market that’s really “unpredictable”.
The real estate business is good, but lately, houses have been sitting on the market longer. According to Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors®, that’s because there’s more inventory now.
“Thirty percent more listings in September versus one year ago. More choices for consumers,” Yun said. Those consumers are in a better position to buy because jobs are plentiful. Yun added that “in the past couple of months, wage growth exceeded home-price appreciation.”