Weekly Market Update: September 7th through September 13th

Well, that didn’t take long.

After Labor Day weekend gave us one of the quietest weeks we’ve seen in a while, sellers came back in a BIG way. New listings more than doubled this week, but buyers didn’t exactly come rushing back with them.

Stats

🏡 New Listings: 261 ↑ (124 last week)

🤝 Pending Sales: 148 ↓ (181 last week)

🔑 Sold Homes: 101 ↓ (145 last week)

💰 Price Reductions: 230 ↑ (180 last week)

Trend Overview

The headline this week is pretty obvious: 261 new listings.

That’s an increase of 137 homes from last week and more than double the 124 that hit the market during the holiday shortened week. Some rebound was absolutely expected after Labor Day, but this was a significant jump.

The more interesting part is what happened on the other side of the equation.

Pending sales dropped from 181 to 148, while price reductions climbed from 180 to 230. So while sellers returned to the market, buyers became more selective.

That combination matters.

We had 261 homes come on the market, but only 148 go pending. At the same time, 230 sellers reduced their asking price. That tells us there is plenty of competition for buyer attention right now, and simply putting a home on the market isn’t enough.

Sold homes also fell from 145 to 101, although closed sales are a reflection of contracts written weeks earlier, so I put much less weight on that number when evaluating what buyers are doing right now.

What This Means for Buyers

If you’re buying, this is the kind of week you want to see.

You just got a significant injection of fresh inventory, fewer homes went under contract, and 230 sellers made price adjustments.

That doesn’t mean every seller is suddenly desperate to make a deal. Well priced homes in desirable locations can still move quickly. But buyers have more choices, and in many situations, more negotiating room than they would have had in a tighter market.

This is also why I continue to tell buyers not to judge the entire market by one house. Some listings are priced correctly and generate immediate interest. Others sit, reduce their price, and become much better opportunities a few weeks later.

What This Means for Sellers

This week is a good reminder that your competition matters.

There are now a lot more fresh listings competing for the same buyers, while fewer buyers committed to homes this week. On top of that, 230 sellers reduced their price.

That doesn’t mean you need to be the cheapest house on the market. It means buyers need to understand the value of your home from the beginning.

Preparation, presentation, pricing and marketing all become increasingly important when buyers have choices. If a home misses the mark when it first hits the market, buyers have plenty of alternatives right now.

The post Labor Day market has officially arrived, and based on this week’s numbers, sellers showed up faster than buyers did.

Now we’ll see whether buyers take advantage of all these new choices over the next couple of weeks.