As a benefit to the homeowners and homebuyers using our platform, I share a regular summary of housing market news and data driving our decision-making here at Bluebid Homes. We call it the Bluebid Buzz.
Disclaimer: Views expressed here are my own and not the views of my coworkers or anyone else. I am not a financial advisor, investment advisor, or housing expert. I’m just a guy who cares deeply about saving the American Dream of homeownership.
Here's the buzz for the week of December 29, 2022…
Reuters reports pending home sales in November recorded the second-lowest monthly reading in 20 years. Contracts declined in all four regions, led by a 7.9% monthly drop in the Northeast.
According to Redfin, high end homes plunged even further and saw their biggest decline on record (the company began tracking in 2012) for the three months ending November 30.
Boston.com says that while you can expect mortgage rates to fall in 2023, asking prices are unlikely to follow suit due to continued supply constraints. That said, population trends should offer at least some limited relief in the Northeast. While the US population increased by 1.2 million people this year, the Northeast lost almost 219,000 people in a trend largely driven by domestic residents moving out of New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.
NPR shares that home prices remain elevated despite the slump in sales activity because inventory has been depleted. The inventory of unsold existing homes fell for a fourth consecutive month in November to 1.14 million.
Business Insider investigates how softness has impacted 55 companies across the real estate sector.
A running theme has been a housing market full of contradictions and plagued by inefficiency: demand’s inability to attract supply, pricing that fails to reflect underlying market conditions, etc. Nearly all of this can be attributed to the friction that accompanies outdated listing services. According to Fortune, 16 million homes are sitting empty across the United States. The inventory we need it out there, but it lies dormant. Homeowners simply haven’t had an easy way to test the market privately and without the pressure that comes with selling the old-fashioned way. That’s where Bluebid comes in.
Happy New Year!