During the slower summer months in Bay Area real estate, the general consensus was that we were all looking forward to a busy fall market. The traditional fall market (post-Labor Day) sees a boost of inventory and while we have certainly seen an uptick, it has so far proved to be less robust as expected. This continues to play into the current trend of the market simply being unpredictable after coming off of its high at the end of spring.
The slam-dunk properties are still selling quickly while other homes are sitting for longer and seeing more price reductions than we were seeing during the hot spring market. Buyer mentality, along with the interest rates, seems to have shifted to a slower moving pace. Understandably so given the higher rates, though since we don't know where rates will go from here it's a great time to nab a home without as much competition as before and lock in that rate now.
Speaking of rates, here's the quote of the month from Patrick Carlisle, Compass Chief Economist:
"[Interest rates] continue to see substantial short-term volatility and it remains difficult to confidently predict their future movements and effects on real estate markets. The next major indicator of buyer and seller psychology and market dynamics will be what occurs during the next 2 months of the autumn selling season, prior to the mid-November to mid-January holiday slowdown, typically the slowest market of the year."
