Good afternoon on this cold-appropriate day in January! The market right now is an unknown, practically speaking. Historically, January and sometimes February are a time when real estate agents and loan officers try to understand what the spring market will be like by looking at buyer and seller activity. At the moment, it's a mixed bag. In certain pockets of the market, homes are selling with multiple offers, above list price, and in a week -- not unlike the pandemic market, just not as many offers and not as much craziness re. lack of contingencies and price escalations. In most of the markets, however, seller and buyer activity continues to be muted in that buyers are still timid when it comes to signing up for a mortgage at the current rates and sellers aren't terribly motivated to come to market given pricing softness. I think of today's market as being something akin to a funeral: buyers are mourning the higher interest rates (although historically speaking, they are still quite low) and sellers are mourning the lack of pricing power. Once both sides accept the fact that we are where we are, the market should pick up speed and intensity. Time will tell if and when that happens.
