October was the seventh-month inventory has stabilized. It was slightly lower than the previous month but the trend continues to show a steady increase.  The same thing can be seen for the median time a home spends on the market. What the two data points tell market watchers is the market is beginning to normalize. 

The market traditionally begins some seasonal softening in late summer and continues through the holidays. Sometimes there are sales spikes in November if the conditions are right. That could be the case this year. 

Seasonal slowing and the constant media drone that the market is heading for a correction have caused some buyers to back off. They back off because buyers – like real estate investors – are cautious when there are market uncertainties.  

So far this year, market fundamentals don’t point to dramatic shifts from the current sellers’ market. Increasing mortgage rates are exerting downward pressure on prices because it removes some of consumers’ buying power. There are ample examples of listings getting multiple offers, but there are not as many of them. At the same time, increasing inventory is being watched by buyers because it gives them more options. 

That means both listing and buyers’ agents will need to balance their marketing and dealings with clients with both local trends and short-term monthly market performance. And the truism that real estate is local, local, local applies to market data, too. It’s the type of market performance information that can be found on the NETAR website every month with the Home Sales Report, Commercial Real Estate Report, Pending Sales Report, Mid-Month market report, and the weekly Market Pulse items.