April 2023 Housing Market Update

Spring market is more of a slow trickle than a flip being switched, but I am ecstatic about the fact that each week we are seeing more and more homes hit the market. This increase in inventory helps alleviate the gridlock.

The statistics are a mix of good and bad news. This is the first month that we have seen a significant decrease in home prices (-$15k) year over year. Meaning the average sale price in March of 2022 was $565,000 and in March of 2023 it was $550,000. Before you get too excited, the average sale price is still higher for March than it was in February ($542,500) or January ($529,500).

We need to interpret this information in totality. If a house sold in March, it was most likely listed in January. It makes perfect sense that homes going under contract in January and February sold for more than ones that went under contract in November and December based on all the stats and reasoning I have covered over the last few months.

My prediction on home prices is tied to rates. If we continue to get more inventory but rates stay the same or increase I think sale prices will slightly decrease. If we get more inventory and rates decrease, home prices will increase, the lower the rates the higher the prices. The main reason being lower rates will allow for more buyers and then even though there are more houses on the market, with more people looking, we will have proportionally less inventory.