Is Easter the official start to the spring market? 

Now that Easter is behind us and the weather is warming up it’s time for us to start looking ahead towards the spring and summer real estate markets. As we begin assessing the data we’re starting to look for real trends and indicators of what to expect of our housing inventory here in Waxhaw. 

In previous blogs I’ve written considerably about historical listing counts in Waxhaw and how this impacts and drives the market. Instead of re-hashing old points today I’m simply going to post the new data trends and focus on expectations moving forward. Below is the updated graph showing the historical and current listing counts.

The data clearly indicates that we’ve already started off 2023 as a bit of a dry year for listings with listing counts as low as they’ve ever been for the last 3 years. This is attributed primarily to the cost of mortgages with rates being north of 6.5%. Sellers simply don’t see the possibility of moving when they have locked 2-3% interest rates. This is drying up our listing inventory as the only homes for sale are what we call “Necessity Moves” like job relocations, deaths, divorces, etc. 

Easter is usually the official beginning of our Spring market as the weather begins to get nicer and families return from Spring Break. Not to mention tax season is officially upon us giving some buyers more cash on hand from their tax returns. 

Although we’re just getting into the spring market, it’s not picking up like years prior. If you look at the graph above you can see that March and April data points tend to already be moving in an upward trend, but this year it’s nearly perfectly flat. This indicator is showing that our listing trends are likely going to be lower than years prior and remain low, that is until rates hit a more acceptable range. 

Until interest rates drop it’s likely that we’ll continue to see these same trends month over month, making it harder for buyers with limited inventory and higher interest rates. The silver lining is sellers are still open to buyer concessions and credits to help with rate buy downs, but this is becoming increasingly rare as sellers have less competition and more control. 

As always if you’re thinking about buyer or selling, or just want to discuss the market and the best strategy to buy or sell I’m just a phone call away, 980-250-2795. 

Check out my latest client testimonial! “My wife and I were delighted with the service we received from our Briggs American broker, Matt Lawson. He handled both our sell and buy transactions with complete professionalism and integrity and allowed us to achieve excellent results. The marketing effort he put together for our property was exceptional. We know we weren’t his only clients but the responses we received made us feel like we were.” M. Edwards

Matt Lawson, MBA is the Owner and Broker in Charge of Briggs American Homes, a real estate team at REAL Broker, LLC. Matt lives and operates his business right here in Waxhaw, NC and is passionate about all things Real Estate.