Much like the weather, the housing market’s hottest season is summer. Buyer activity begins to accelerate in the spring and typically reaches its peak right around the time the seasons turn. But then, after the kids go back to school, the air begins to cool and so does the market. Fall brings with it fewer buyers, slowing prices, and less competition for available homes. This is the normal seasonal cycle. But this year, newly released data shows the seasonal slowdown, that usually arrives in September, began earlier than usual. For example, according to a new release from the National Association of Realtors’ consumer website, home prices fell 1.8 percent between July and August. The timing and size of the decline is a good indication that the summer sales season is coming to an early close. But why? Well, one explanation is that – though slowing prices and low mortgage rates are good for affordability – economic uncertainty has potential buyers feeling cautious. Whether or not that feeling intensifies will determine, in part, what conditions fall home buyers encounter when shopping for a house to buy. More here.
