A look back on the 2023 summer Real Estate Market in Waxhaw

It feels like just yesterday the kids were getting out of school for the summer, the temperature was rising, and the pools were opening. Like a snap of the fingers and its hurricane season, summers over, schools back in session and traffics as worse as ever. Summer left us just as quick as it arrived, and it took all the real estate listings with it. 

Towards the beginning of the summer I wrote a blog about the historical low inventory in the Waxhaw market over the first and beginning of the second quarter. You can find the blog here https://beta.bmtwn.com/blog/waxhaw-listings-have-fallen-back-to-historic-lows/. Today, the listing count in Waxhaw is historically the lowest it’s ever been and it’s not even close to the previous record low. 

Summer in Waxhaw is usually our prime selling season as seller look to capitalize on the school summer break to get their kids settled into new homes and schools before the end of August. This year we began to see an increase in listings as usual in May and into June, but instead of continuing the rise into July we saw flat listings and a sharp downturn into August.

In May Waxhaw had 241 listings and June saw a minimal increase to 242. July historically leads the charge for the summer with the highest listings before falling in August and into the fall months. This year however, we saw only 196 listing in July, a 19.1% decrease from the previous month. Not only was this the sharpest decline in listing count in recent history, it also marks the historically lowest number of listings in Waxhaw in the last 10 years. For comparison, in July of 2022 there were 320 listings, and in July of 2021 there were 339. This is a 61% decrease year of year. 

August numbers wont come in for at least another week, but we’re expecting to see an even lower listing count than July which would set another historically low record. What does this mean for those looking to make a move in the Waxhaw market for the rest of 2023? 

Historically low inventory translates into limited selection which means sellers have more leverage. The counterbalance to this is seller leverage is being offset by historically high interest rates, see https://beta.bmtwn.com/blog/fed-stick-to-their-guns-and-raise-rates-another-quarter-point/. With rates being near 7.5% today buyers and sellers alike are having a hard time deciding to move. Many are taking a break from their home search in an effort wait out interest rates that may not drop for another year, possibly more. 

It's unknown what to expect from the FED when it comes to their interest rate decisions, but we can expect to see a relatively slow Real Estate Market for the rest of 2023 without some reprieve from the FED. We’ll continue to monitor the market and keep our clients and neighbors updated, but if you should have any questions, thoughts, or just want to talk real estate don’t hesitate to reach out to me anytime at 980-250-2795.