Quarter 3 Market Stats

It seems no matter who you talk to right now, one of the continuing topics of conversation is “how’s the market doing?”. The real estate market is in a new season of change which seems to be fluctuating daily. Between rising interest rates, extreme weather, and global political and economic issues, trying to get a handle on where it is going can be a challenge. As we ended the summer selling season, the local inventory remained strong, and just past Labor Day we saw the inventory begin to decrease. This is a normal process for our local market with the change of seasons. The total number of homes sold by the end of August was down 21% from last year, but there has been a median increase in sold prices of 18% overall. Some home prices are double what they were two to three years ago. The rise in interest rates has influenced sales, especially in the lower price points and new construction. Builders started offering various incentives over the summer, anticipating even higher interest rates once we got into fall. Rates on the date of this article are at 6.4% and the FED has just agreed to raise the FED rate by .75 basis points. We shall see what this equates to for mortgage rates, but it is likely we will see those rise to the 7% range. It is worth noting that the FED has also indicated more rate increases before year’s end. View the third quarter North Idaho Market Report below.