In November we saw interest rates start to come down..finishing close to 7%. Fingers crossed the 8% rate we saw in October was the peak and we are now on the downward slope. Experts are pretty confident that the Fed will not hike rates this week and that with inflation cooling the Fed will start cutting rates by mid 2024.

Interest rates hit 8%, the highest in 20+ years. Home sales continued to slow as a result. Rates dipped in the first week of November but are already creeping back up and the Fed may have one more rate increase coming in December.

So will prices or interest rates come down anytime soon? Probably not. Inventory in Columbia County remains tight overall, which will keep prices stable.

But there’s a lot of price adjustments happening right now, so the market is heading for a crash, right?

🍂 It’s the final quarter of 2023, 3 months left in the year… Is anyone else feeling reflective… Are there things you really wanted to get done this year but haven’t tackled yet? Buying a house perhaps?

Before we look forward, lets take a look back at what happened in September

September saw an increase in new listings but new pendings and solds did not keep pace. Did interest rates hanging out in the high 7% range have something to do with it? Yes, these interest rates are keeping a lot of would be buyers on the sidelines and a lot of would be sellers staying put.

August saw a dip in new listings, but active listings are at the highest level for the year, but they’re still at a historically low level.

36% of active listings (93) are below $500K, but this price range makes up 54% of all sales year to date

34% of active listings (88) are between $500K-$1M, this price range makes up 33% of all sales year to date

29% of active listings (75) are over $1M, but this price range only makes up 13% of all sales year to date.

Throughout Women’s History Month, we reflect on the impact women have in our lives, and that includes impact on the housing market. In fact, since at least 1981, single women have bought more homes than single men each year, and they make up 17% of all households.