Ahhh, the sweet, sweet smell of equilibrium! (Ok, it doesn’t actually smell but it feels right.) What do we mean? For the first time in a very long time, it feels to us that we’ve reached a very nice equilibrium between seller and buyer behaviors.
- Sellers are waking up to a new reality of more down-to-earth prices and adjusting their strategy accordingly. (Out-of-sync seller behavior usually looks like pricing above the market, thinking the property can sell in a few weeks, and refusing to engage with buyers looking to negotiate.)
- Buyers, in turn, are back out pounding the pavement, actively looking for the right opportunity. (Out-of-sync buyer behavior usually looks like buyers giving up altogether, refusing to compromise on property desires, waiting things out endlessly for “the right apartment” to appear, or not moving quickly enough.)
Wouldn’t you know it: this equilibrium has resulted in a strengthening of the market. Even in a typically slow month, January came in with very healthy activity. This is in no small part due to the pent-up demand that built up during the uncertain Q4 releasing in January. So many people were holding their breath (and their wallets) … until they decided that sitting out of the game altogether was not in their best interest. And no, the sky didn’t fall. Truth be told, prices are softening a bit, but we need to remember that prices don’t keep increasing forever, especially not as steeply as they have for the last few years. We are in a far more sustainable new norm, and we welcome it!
