Up and up and up rates go, but buyers don’t seem to be deterred.  Buyer showing activity was incredibly strong last week ending at 17,305 showings and 2.5 showings per listing.  

But buyers are once again showing patience.  Only 262 properties went under contract, as was the trend in the second half of 2024.  Lots of buyer showings, not as many contracts.  

Interest rates, which are at a 6 month high, will drive a lot of buyer decisions.  If they remain high, buyers will take more time and market volume will be slightly suppressed accordingly.  If rates drop, we will see a spike in buyer decisions making, dropping inventory and price elevation.  

Some first week of the year stats and narrative on what we are watching:

• Days on Market-we are starting out the year averaging 69.27 days on the market.  Expect this to drop rapidly over the coming weeks.  
• Concessions-Starting the year slightly lower, the average contract concessions ended last week at $6,693.  With interest rates elevated and buyers cautious however, negotiated concessions will likely remain fairly high. 
• Inventory-We ended 2024 with 6,895 homes on the market and we dropped a little further, ending last week at 6,675 homes.  This was driven by a record number of expired listings.  
• Expired and Withdrawn Properties-131 properties were withdrawn from the market last week and a record 1,021 properties expired.  Only 124 of these 1,052 properties went back on the market.  

The first week of the year isn’t very meaningful.  Next week will begin to tell us how Q1 will shape up.  Expect days on market to decline, price reductions to decrease and offers to be stronger with sellers having a slight advantage going into the spring market.