Realtors® Predicting Less Buyer and Seller Traffic

Realtors® are predicting a slower market in the coming months.

Thanks to higher mortgage rates, continued limited inventory and buyer hesitation, Realtors® are expecting the market to not be as robust over the coming year. According to NAR’s Realtors® Confidence Index Survey for August, just 11% of agents expect a year over year uptick in buyer traffic over the next three months, down 31% year over year, but consistent with July’s numbers. Additionally, most agents are not expecting the number of sellers to rise over the next three months, as just 12% predict we’ll see an increase, down 2% from July and 14% year over year.

However, homes are still moving fairly quickly off of the market compared to pre-pandemic times, but some are lingering. Eighty-one percent of agents said properties sold in a month or less, down 1% from July and 5% from August 2021. About one-third (32%) of properties sold above listing price, down from 39% in July and down from 45% in August 2021. Homes are also receiving less offers, on average it was 2.5 in August, down from 2.8 in July and 3.8 year over year.

“I’ve heard many Realtors® in Pennsylvania note that the market is becoming more balanced,” said PAR President Chris Beadling. “While we’re still facing a limited inventory situation and higher mortgage rates, I think we’re going to see increased negotiations between buyers and sellers in the coming year. Many markets are already seeing a reduction in the number of offers on a home; instead of 15 offers, they may be seeing three or four.”

While the majority of contracts closed in a month across the country, which has been typical over the last year, there has been a decrease in delays, according to NAR research. Only 15% had a delayed settlement, down 8% year over year, and 8% had a delay due to appraisal issues, down 4% year over year.

The type of buyer hasn’t changed too much, 29% were first-time buyers, which has remained stable over the past year, 16% were purchasing a second home, again, this has remained within 1-2 percentage points. Additionally, the number of all-cash sales actually rose 2% year over year, reaching 22% in August, however, the number of buyers who waived the inspection contingency dropped 5% from July (27% to 22%), but remained stable year over year. The number of buyers who waived an inspection contingency fell month over month as well (27% to 21%) but again remained stable year over year.