Welcome to the Monthly Market Report for February 2023. In this month’s market update I wanted to talk about two things: Inventory, which is one of the most significant issues in real estate today. I also wanted to talk about some of the headlines that we're seeing right now that may be factually correct, but misleading to consumers in a lot of ways.
A Word About Listing Inventory-February 2023
Listing inventory numbers are a problem and probably will be going into the Spring buying season. On the graph above the red line is new listings coming to market in 2022. In the first half of 2022 new listings were beginning to approach pre-pandemic levels. In fact the people that were calling for a housing crash used this because they said new listings are going to continue to climb as the market slows. Price is always determined by supply and demand and as listings climb and less and less people want to buy, the market's going to crash.
The second half of the year saw new listings starting to fall. This is what's kept upward pressure on prices. We wrapped up December with 21% fewer new listings coming to market than the prior year, so no doubt, we're not seeing the listings that we need. Now, there are several reasons for that. Those that have maybe an interest rate that they say, "We're going to stay where we're at," and certainly those that say, "We don't want to put on our house on the market because we're not sure where we are going to go," which is another inventory issue that we face.
Headlines Do More to Terrify Than Clarify
The last topic I want to address is misleading headlines. So headlines do more to terrify than clarify. A recent survey from NerdWallet, says,
"67% of Americans say a housing market crash is imminent in the next three years.“
People think that because of headlines like these.
Now, while all these are factually true, they don't tell the whole story, but they get people to read the articles and read the information because these headlines are alarming. These headlines will make you think the market is about to crash, so what I want to do is take the recent foreclosure data that these are pointing to and break that down.
This is a look at US properties with foreclosure filings, and it's going all the way back to 2005. And what you can see in those dark red bars is those were years where we had over 1 million foreclosure filings per year in this country. Now, if you think about this, and you look at the data of how much foreclosures have increased over the past we went from nearly record level lows of foreclosures in 2020 and 2021 to up in 2022. That's the 115% increase. They more than doubled, no doubt, but the 324,000 foreclosures is nowhere near the millions and millions that were recorded when the housing market crashed in this country. So we're in a very different period of time, a very different landscape for what's happening in the housing market.
Homes sales nationwide and in our area might have slowed down but they are still selling. On average, 8 homes sell every minute. In fact, while you’ve been watching this video 24-32 homes have sold. Shouldn’t yours be one of them. If you’re in the market let the agents at First Coast Realty help you achieve your goals this year.
Whether you are looking to buy or sell, First Coast Realty would welcome the opportunity to earn your business. Feel free to reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter and we would be happy to assist you in getting the ball rolling. Or, to talk to a qualified, experienced agent call/text today 904-494-8408 or email info@firstcoastrealtyinc.com