According to the National Association of Realtors® pending home sales dropped 2.6% in October nationally. The pending sales are a forward-looking indicator to give us an idea of what closed sales will be in the next couple of months. This has been the tenth straight month of annual decreases. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun believes that the higher interest rates are the main factor. Higher interest rates plus higher prices take a lot of buyers out of the buying pool.
The short-term outlook is very uncertain; however, Yun feels optimistic about the long-term outlook. We saw similar sales numbers in 2000. That being said, interest rates were much higher in 2000 and there are more jobs now. Unemployment numbers continue to go down which is a good sign for the economy.
Locally, in Flagstaff, we are still struggling with low inventory numbers. Click here to see our blog on Flagstaff’s sales numbers for October.
And remember if you would like to know about Flagstaff Market Trends the Elite Team at RE/MAX Peak Properties is always here to help.