October Market Insights from Nicole Rueth | Guest Post

What do the latest market trends tell us?  Well, as a mortgage lender, we look closely at the monthly real estate trends to understand what that means for buyers AND sellers.  The more we can educate ourselves, the better we can serve our clients.  Here are a few nuggets we took from the latest report on market trends from DMAR.

• Inventory is up!  Inventory is up 7.04% over August and 16.10% year-over-year.  Inventory has long been an issue in our local markets along the Front Range in Colorado.  As this inventory increases, we will see the trickle effect of months of inventory and listings’ time on the market has on the buyer’s more relaxed sense of urgency. 
• Seller’s had been spoiled by double-digit appreciation giving them unprecedented equity growth and wealth accumulation.  With this overdue inventory, we are seeing appreciation normalizing and drop from 8.04% to 6.53% year-over-year.  (Remember 3.6% is normal appreciation.) The takeaway: sellers who price their home right are still able to sell quickly and it’s still a great time to be building equity in your home.
• Buyers are reacting to rising interest rates, but are not making rash buying decisions.  Mortgage purchase applications are up 4% and NAR’s foot traffic was up just under 1% (.9%).  These are strong future indicators of under contract and sold homes.  While buyers are not feeling as much urgency to over-bid or make instant decisions on properties; they are feeling the pressure to act before rates go up further.

At the Rueth Team, we are always trying to educate our clients and partners (get more insights here.  We know numbers and stats have amazing power, but only if you know what to do with them.  Now is a great time to take this information and educate your clients on how they can build equity, and ultimately longterm wealth, with real estate.  

If you or your clients have any questions, know the Rueth Team is always here to help!