Holiday weeks in real estate? They’re notoriously slow, and last week was no exception. Families aren’t exactly rushing to close deals or move while juggling Thanksgiving, travel, and hosting duties. 

Here’s how last week shaped up:

• Sold properties: A dismal 530.
• New listings: Year-to-date low at 346.
• Under contracts: Second-lowest week of the year at 522.
• Average sold price: Dropped to $641,622.

Not exactly a barnburner. But here’s the thing: even though new listings will screech to a halt in the next few weeks, buyers aren’t going anywhere. Contracts and closings will continue to trickle in because demand doesn’t hibernate—it just slows.

And don’t forget, we’re only about 30 days away from the start of the 2025 market. There’s a lot of pent-up demand to buy and sell, and the pace is about to pick up.

Advice for Buyers

This is the message to buyers: The next 45 days are their power play.

• It’s the best time to go below asking price, negotiate rate buy-downs, demand seller concessions, and dictate terms like inspection items.
• But this window won’t last. By early January, buyer activity will start increasing, inventory will tighten, and leverage will shift.

If your buyers find a home they like and can afford, they should act now. Remind them that while rates are still higher than ideal, they’ve dipped slightly, and buying today positions them for two advantages:

1. Refinancing: After six payments, they could lock in lower rates if rates drop, securing today’s prices and terms.
2. Equity gains: When rates drop, more buyers flood the market, pushing prices up. Buying now lets them benefit from price appreciation later.

Pro Tip for Buyers: This isn’t about gambling on rates. If they’re comfortable with today’s terms, buying now just gives them an extra edge if rates improve.

Guidance for Sellers

This is the toughest time of the year to sell, and there’s no sugarcoating it.

• Days on market feel longer.
• Offers are below asking.
• Buyers are aggressive on concessions and inspection terms.

That said, the tide will turn. Buyer activity ramps up in just 30-40 days, average sold prices will climb, and seller competition doesn’t really flood the market until mid-February. Sellers who can stick it out will likely see more favorable conditions in the next 60 days.

Takeaways 

For buyers, now’s the time to press for the best deals while the market is soft. For sellers, it’s all about patience—positioning themselves for the upswing that’s just around the corner. Your role is to guide them with confidence, setting clear expectations for the opportunities and challenges in this seasonal market lull.

Market Stats

Days on market took a substantial jump over the last month ending the week at 62.73 days.  I’ve been saying this for a couple months now, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the average cross 70 days by year end, where the last two years ended at 55 and 57 days.

Concessions are marching toward ending the year at an all time high. This may be tempered a bit if rates decline markedly this week.  But with the jump in rates we saw after the election and most contracts that will close before year end being written by now, we could see the average contract concessions touching $10,000 by year end or early January.  Today we sit at $8,189 per closed contract.  

49.2% of all properties are now experiencing a price reduction.    While price reductions likely increase between now and year end, the market will start going the other way in just 30 days.  If you are a seller and do not need to sell right now, today, at least consider holding your price where it is and seeing how buyer activity jumps in the first 4 weeks of the year.  

The percentage of properties selling below the original asking price crossed 70% last week and this number will continue to climb through year end and into early January.  Then, it will plummet rapidly into the heart of the selling season.  

We saw an annual low of 44.9% of properties sold below the asking price in April of this year compared to an all time low of 11.7% in April of 2022.  We will never, ever see that again. But I would expect this next year more resembles 2017 and 2018 where about 35% of properties sell below asking in the heart of the selling season.  

Interesting to note that 2019 was almost identical to 2024 in this respect.  

Inventory continues its march down toward year end, ending last week at 8,803 properties on the market.  I was predicting about 7,500 homes available for sale by year end. But with the pace of sellers taking their home off the market accelerating, we may end the year substantially below that estimate.  

Expired listings was another record for the week, last week.  542 listings expired last week and only 7 of those were relisted for sale.  

And finally, showings.  Yes, showings dropped for our holiday week last week, but not as much as any of the prior 4 years, ending the week with 13,628 showings.  I expect a bounce back week this week with our slight rate decline.  

Sellers remember, that you are not alone in not getting very many, or any showings.  The average property only experienced 1.44 showings last week.