The Residential Real Estate market in the US seems to have entered a seasonal slowdown. According to Realtor.com, this seasonal decline in demand is normal. Based on its September sales report, the median price for listed homes continue to decline from its recorded highs in July.
According to Realtor.com, For the month of September, the average median prices in the US has fallen to $231,000 and it favors the buyers.
According to Main Street, Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Realtor.com has said in an email, "The new home sales report covering September released today shows a rate well below the consensus estimate and indicates that real issues emerged late this summer in the new homes market, questioning the supposedly strong growth signals that were previously interpreted by many."
He added, "Last year we picked up momentum in the late summer and fall. This year seems to be the opposite-we are losing momentum."
Recently, the median U.S. new home price, $296,900 in September, according to Smoke was 3% higher than august, and 14% higher last year. But it was noted that those figures could be deceiving.
"That's an important clue as to why growth seems to be stalling out," he said. "The median new home price had been declining since the end of last year, which is what we would need to see if builders were aiming to grow sales to first time buyers by providing more affordable, entry-level homes. However, the shift up this summer and fall reflects that few builders are able to offer product to first-time buyers."
Another observation made by analysts is that there has been a decrease in pending sales and home closing from the month of august. And speaking of this, Smoke said, "That decline was likely a result of the stock market declines in August and September," Smoke said. "If builders are not focusing on first-time buyers, they are focusing on the segments most likely to be disrupted by declines in stock portfolios and retirement plans."
