A Word From Brandon: Predicting the D.C. Fall Market

It is usually about this time of year I get my crystal ball down off the shelf to predict the fall into winter market. As agents, we’re in a position to sense shifts and changes long before they reach media outlets, so I’m happy to provide my perspective.

I believe the fall market will be dominated by three themes:

1. The market is warming to buyers again. The last 12 months or so have seen dynamics dramatically advantageous to sellers, which has shifted and will continue to shift as we move into the fall and winter. The extraordinary demand was due to a perfect storm of incredibly low interest rates, historically low inventory and years of build-up demand. All of those dynamics have eased, making it reasonable for a buyer to negotiate again. Sellers - you’re going to need to up your game. Be sure to stage and price reasonably in order to move buyers to your property. A note of caution-the hottest properties will still fly off the market in a matter of days and possibly for more than asking price so don’t interpret this to mean it’s back to 2008.

2. Interest rates will remain where they are. This is always a tricky one, driven in part by monetary policy and psychology. More shifting will occur especially as the fed pulls back from infusing the market with cash, though it seems that’s not likely to happen until spring 2014 at the earliest. We saw a hefty rise in rates during the summer and they have recently leveled off.

3. Pricing will not move up. It’s going to take the market some time to adjust to the new interest rates and different level of demand; as such, I predict we are entering a price plateau for the next six months. Additionally, we have seen extraordinary price increases in the last 12 months that have already shown signs of cooling off.

As always, real estate is hyper local and if you’re in the market to buy or sell, please reach out to us so we can advise you properly based on your individual situation. 

Be well,

         BG


Contact us to find out what this means for you, personally. +1 202-318-1623 or info@brandongreen.com