Your Weekly Market Update 10.31.2022

I feel as though you already know what I’m going to say: Closings are down for yet another week, pending listings and new listings are also down. It’s not new to any of us at this point! So in this week’s post, I wanted to shed light on the why’s.

Why is our market experiencing such a shift? Some may blame interest rates: now sitting at a whopping 7% —a 20 year high— a $3000 mortgage payment can fund a $450K home whereas a few years ago, this would fund about a $650-700K home. It’s a tough reality to accept. NAR economists believe it could get up to 8.5% before we see a plateau.

Some blame Houston’s weather. I know, you may think this is absurd but according to a survey from Redfin, 71% of today’s generations are hesitant to move somewhere risk-prone. With Houston’s regular hurricanes and below sea-level housing, we may shun off a number of homebuyers. (With great risk comes great reward, though)

All markets experience shifts, and knowing the why’s may help you when speaking to your buyers and sellers. Ask more questions, find out what they’re worried about.

If they’re concerned about interest rates, ask them what their interest rate is on their credit card or car. Putting it in perspective with other items they have with higher interest rates may shed light on a new outlook on home buying.

If they’re concerned about Houston’s weather, inform them of all the systems set in place to assist with those concerns. FEMA insurance exists and is required if in a certain area, and we have numerous dams and flood traps built to hold and contain water. Only during massive devastating storms is it really a concern for Houstonians.

Remind them of our city’s beautiful and diverse culture: Houston’s food scene is a huge melting pot of the world. We have almost any cuisine you could imagine, and different walks of life from everywhere. There’s truly no city like ours.