The history of real estate swings the best IDX websites for realtors from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market, and early 2022 signs suggest it’s moving toward a balance between the two.
FORT LAUDER-DALE, Fla. – Potential home buyers in South Florida have been waiting with bated breath for signs that more inventory might hit the top real estate markets and ease the fierce competition.
Lack of inventory during the pandemic fuelled high home prices as the region saw an influx of buyers from other parts of the country. That momentum, in turn, created a fear of missing out, resulting in an even greater shortage.
Experts now say that there are indications that more inventory could be coming to the market and that buyers may be pumping the brakes.
For South Florida, new listings have seen a slight improvement, said George Ratiu, senior economist at Realtor.com. “We are still seeing new listings down compared to a year ago, but that decline has moderated,” he said.
In January 2022, Single Property Sites new listings were down by 18% compared to the year before. In February, new listings were down by 10%; March was 12% and April was 9%.
“The trend here shows that we expect to see more homeowners bring homes to the market as the pandemic comes down,” he added. “We are moving back to the single-digit decline and it seems to be moving in tandem with the national level. Towards the late summer [and] fall we might see increased inventory in South Florida.”
Agents seeing a slight increase in the history of real estate
In the history of real estate agents are seeing a slight uptick in inventory coming to the real estate market in South Florida, though it is not enough to meet demand or create balance in the market.
“It’s still very much a seller’s market,” said Jeff Grant, a Realtor with Remax in Palm Beach Gardens. “The inventory gains have been modest. I would guess that there are 10-20% more homes for sale than there were 3 months ago.”
Other agents also report seeing small increases in inventory coming to the market when compared to the year before. According to real estate idx website design agent David Gunther with Lang Realty in Del-ray Beach, there were about 7-8 single-family homes available for sale this time last year priced in the $700,000s in central Del-ray Beach. Now, there are about 22 properties listed.
In real estate market history Properties are still being absorbed quickly, but the confidence is lower,” Gunther said. “The interest rates are probably bringing sellers to the table.”
Interest rates pushing sellers, quelling buyers
Inventory is still imbalanced with not enough properties out there to meet buyer demand. But real estate agents say WordPress IDX website that they have seen more sellers motivated, in part, by rising interest rates. Interest rates have climbed to about 5.6%, rising rapidly over the past six months. Some sellers are putting their homes on the market sooner rather than later, believing that the higher rates will make buyers less interested.
“Buyer demand is less than normal this year as compared to last year, which isn’t surprising given that interest rates have been raised several times already this year and prices have increased so drastically,” said Brian Peal with the Pearl Antonacci Group in Boca Raton.
Realtors say that the sellers most active right now are those with more flexibility in their lives, who don’t need to immediately find a new home in the area.
“Most people that I’ve worked with who are listing their homes with the help of Best IDX WordPress Plugins For Realtors have been retirees and investors that are starting to sell off their investment properties, second homes, or leaving the area for a less expensive market,” said Grant.
Though buyer demand has slightly tapered off recently, the buyers that remain in the best real estate markets in the world are still competitive, experts said.
“There may be fewer of them, and it’s not as much of a frenzy, but it’s still a super seller’s market,” Gunther said.
He recently had an open house for a townhome for sale priced around $1 million and about six buyers came to the viewing. A year ago, he said there probably would have been a rush of 25-30 people showing up.
“I expect the best real estate market will still be a seller’s market but inventory will normalize. It should take a little pressure off of buyers,” Grant said.