12/01/2022
The holiday season is generally a slow time for the housing market but the amount of new purchase contracts last week across the central east coast was the lowest it's been since late 2019. This sentiment will likely close out the year as we head into December.
Price drops are still widespread, indicating another step into a buyer market. Over 40% of regional listings have seen a price drop this past week with the most (43.2%) in West Virginia and the least (37.5%) in both Delaware and New Jersey. While these numbers may seem high, they are on a decline while average list prices are also still on the decline. This indicates a more realistic market outlook by sellers, who have now had time to adjust to the new market conditions.
The T3 Home Demand Index was at 90 in DC, 97 in Philly and 105 in Baltimore in October which indicates a steady market, though generally down from the month prior. The decrease in demand spanned all home types. In DC, high priced condos were hit the hardest while the same category along with high priced single family were the hottest housing types in the Philly and Baltimore markets.
Finally, interest rates are still hovering around 7%, depending on qualifications. While we are expecting the Fed to implement another rate hike in mid-December, we have heard from Fed Reserve Chair Jeremy Powell that we are likely to see smaller rate hikes at this time.
