Real estate figures for October are in, and sales and values are down, according to the National Association of Realtors.
“I wouldn’t say you should be worried. “I think people should be cautious,” said Marcus Cronce, an agent with Real Estate One.
Cronce said the market is still strong despite higher interest rates, but things are very different from the past few years.
“There is definitely a slowdown of sorts, so much so that I tell everyone I work with that two years ago it was pretty crazy. Every house you went to probably had 10 or more offers. Everybody was putting in valuation guarantees and escalation clauses and pretty much doing everything they could to secure the house. It’s still going on, but it’s just not on the same scale,” Cronce said.
However, new data from Redfin suggests that in other parts of the country, sellers are taking losses and struggling to turn a profit.
According to Redfin, about 6% of home sales resulted in a loss for the seller, and that number has doubled since last year.
Cronce said that is not happening here in Michigan yet, but there is certainly a cooling off here, and rising interest rates are definitely a factor.
“With interest rates, there’s obviously a huge difference in where we were two years ago. People were locking at 2.5-3.5% and now they’re at 7.5% and above, so that’s a massive difference.
The bottom line for buyers is to be cautious and conservative. For sellers, thinking long-term can help avoid selling your home at a loss.
“If you’re going to turn around and try to make a sale in a year or two, you need to approach it differently than if you’re going to be there for 10-20 years,” says Cronce.
