Good Monday Morning!

Home sales in March of 2023 lagged behind those of  March 2022. Nationally, homes sales were off 5.2%, but in the Eugene and Springfiled market area, home sales were off 28.3%. The question at this time is whether this trend will continue or will home sales begin to rebound this Summer? Much of what takes place will depend upon several factors.  First, will be mortgage interest rates. Mortgage rates have dipped as of late and this may have created a bump in home sales for April. Those numbers will be available soon. If the Fed increases rates again this month, then mortgage rates could see a bump again and possibly halt a current trend of increased home sales. Secondly, the inventory of homes for sale needs to increase. Both nationally and locally, home inventories are low. This is keeping home prices high and making it difficult for would be home buyers to find a home. In many markets, including the Eugene and Springfield market, there are far more home buyers than home sellers. Lastly, the economy continues to sag with a very low GDP report again this month, continued inflation and job loss. If this economy continues, it will certainly continue to take its toll on home sales. We can only hope that the economic situation begins to improve soon. The following is an article from "Realtor.com" that describes the cuurent national housing market.

The numbers: Contract signings on U.S. homes fell for the first time since last November, as buyers faced a tough market in March due to an undersupply of houses.

U.S. pending-home sales fell 5.2% in March, according to the monthly index released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Sales dropped for the first time since November 2022. At the time, buyers had sharply pulled back as mortgage rates exceeded 7%.

The numbers: Contract signings on U.S. homes fell for the first time since last November, as buyers faced a tough market in March due to an undersupply of houses.

U.S. pending-home sales fell 5.2% in March, according to the monthly index released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Sales dropped for the first time since November 2022. At the time, buyers had sharply pulled back as mortgage rates exceeded 7%.

On a monthly basis, only the U.S. South saw an uptick in pending home sales of 0.2%.

The NAR said a third of all home listings were seeing multiple bids, and 28% were selling above list price. Realtors also expect the 30-year mortgage rate to drop to 6% this year, and 5.6% in 2024.

Big picture: Buyers, who are already sensitive to mortgage rates, are hurt even more by the underlying structural problem of low inventory. Some have turned to new homes, boosting sales for builders. But expensive homes and high mortgage rates will push home prices down for the year, Vanguard believes, by as much as 5% year-over-year.

What the realtors said: “The lack of housing inventory is a major constraint to rising sales,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “Limited housing supply is simply not meeting demand nationally.”

Yun expects existing-home sales to drop on a year-over-year basis in 2023 by 9.3% to 4.56 million.

Then, he added, sales will rise recover, rising by 15.4% to 5.26 million.

Have An Awesome Week!

Stay Healthy! Stay Safe! Remain Positive! Trust in God!

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