January 2024, much like January 2023, saw a change in direction with sales, new listings, and (some) prices all increasing for the first time in 6 months. While the amount of sales and price change was not significant, the direction things are going is likely pointing towards a more active market this spring.

With 841 sales in January 2024, we saw an increase of 15% compared to December 2023, and a year-to-year increase of 54% compared to January 2023. We still saw 7% fewer sales for the month than the 10-year average, but this is an improvement over the last several months. New listings did increase significantly though, with 1,905 new listings in January 2024, which represents an increase of 161% compared to December 2023, and 32% more than last year, but still 7% lower than the 10-year average.

Contrary to new listings, we did see 1,218 homes come off the market without selling, typically due to expiring listing agreements or sellers deciding not to sell at this point in time. Many of these homes have likely already relisted or will do so in the near future. Despite the huge surge in new listings for the month of January, the large number of homes that came off the market and sold actually decreased the active listing inventory by 4% compared to December 2023. However, it is 8% higher than January 2023, and 3% lower than the 10-year average for January.

23 of every 100 homes of all types available for purchase in January sold, keeping us in a seller’s market. If we break it down by property type, though, detached homes saw 17 out of 100 homes sell, making it a balanced market. Twenty sales or more out of 100 listed is considered a seller’s market, while 12-20 is a balanced market and fewer than 12 is a buyer’s market. Condos and Townhomes both remained in seller’s market territory, with 26% and 33% respectively.

Prices stayed relatively stable, with detached homes decreasing by 0.4% month to month, condos increasing by 0.4%, and townhomes decreasing by 0.1%. I don’t usually use decimal points in this newsletter, but if I did not, the change would be 0%.

One month is quite a long time for a “snapshot” of the market, and the first 2 weeks of January are often quite different than the last 2 weeks. I noticed this myself in my own business and talking with other agents, that it seems as if most of the activity happened in the last 2 weeks, which will likely mean that we will see more significant increases for most metrics by the end of February 2024.

If you are looking to purchase or sell and move up in property value, sooner may still be the better way to go. With the likelihood of interest rates decreasing at some point this year, we will likely see prices increase through the spring and even more so if and when the rates do drop. Waiting for rates to come down may seem like the smart move, but if values increase proportionately to (or in anticipation of) rates coming down, your monthly payments will likely be similar today with higher rates and lower prices, compared to the near future with lower rates and higher prices. The big difference is the potential equity that you could be gaining by way of the property increasing in value while rates come down. Once you renew your mortgage in a couple of years, you will likely have lower payments and a nice big chunk of cash value added to your home’s equity.

If you are just planning to sell or downsize, waiting could pay off, as property values will likely increase as rates come down, and rates are not likely a factor in your decision for selling. The only issue with waiting is that we simply do not know when rates will actually come down.

Like always, let me know if you are planning a move in the near future so we can start planning today!