Market Update Late Summer 2018- Greater Grand Rapids

Real estate was a wild ride this spring. Inventory hit an all time low at 0.9 months of inventory this past March. There was extreme competition among buyers in the $120-250k price ranges. Most of my home buyers searched for at least a few months and wrote multiple offers. I educate my buyers on the different criteria the seller will use to evaluate the offer, and we worked to their strong points as best as possible. For example, some people were flexible in their timing, so they offered sellers longer time to occupy the home after closing. Some were tight on timing, but could offer larger down payments and earnest money. ​All of my buyers were well prepared and writing strong offers.

---

​To illustrate how competitive the spring market was, below is a chart of the buyers I worked with during the months of March through July. It details how many offers each submitted and whether they were ultimately successful in obtaining a home. A few people paused their searches and will try again in the future. Imagine the frustration for the buyers who wrote multiple offers and those who did not end up purchasing at all.

The good news is inventory has slowly and steadily increased since March. We are now sitting at 1.6 months of inventory, which is downright comfy by comparison to 0.9. Aside from the low in March, the levels of inventory this year are almost identical to 2017. Many are predicting the market has peaked and will slowly return to a more balanced market with normal growth. With prices and interest rates increasing, affordability decreases and with it buyer demand. Demand currently is still very high, so it will take a while yet to get to that point. The next year will continue to be a strong seller's market.