Market Recap for Q1 2023 in Pierce County

We have certainly seen our share of changes in the real estate market over the past few months.  But where does that put us now and what might that mean for the future, both immediate and long term?  Here is a quick breakdown of what the market did to finish off last year and how we started 2023.

The fall of 2022 saw a major slowdown in sales across Pierce County.  Not only were sales down, but new listings were down as well.  It was a tough time to list because houses were staying on the market for weeks (or even months) instead of just days (or even hours).  It was a tough time to buy as well with interest rates higher than we’ve seen in several years.  There was a leveling of the playing field with negotiations taking place, sellers paying for buyers’ closing costs or rate buydowns, and a “no rush” atmosphere when it came to buying.

That slowdown continued into 2023, but we’ve quickly seen a turnaround in the back half of Q1.  February started to switch the flip initially, but once we got into March, there was a significant change in what we were seeing and experiencing in our day-to-day.

As we see here, the number of new Pierce County listings for the month jumped dramatically from February to March.  It would be worrisome if those new listings were sitting around, but we can see from the other three graphs that the available homes for sale are down because the pending and closed sales are also up.  This means that while there are new listings coming onto the market, there are buyers at the ready to jump on them when they do.  But how quickly are these buyers springing to action and how aggressive are they being when they are shopping?

Looking at our Showings and Days on Market charts we can see that the overall median days on market dropped to just two weeks.  As far as how much traction the listings are getting, the total number of shows per listing has gone up while the number of showings it takes to go pending has gone down.  So, more people are seeing the listings and fewer buyers are needing to see the listings before they go under contract.  This is likely to lead to a seller’s market again where the buyers will simply open their checkbooks and pay whatever they need to for a sale.  But we’re not seeing that nor are we expecting that to come back as it did in 2020-2022.

With interest rates staying where they are, buyers don’t have the buying power and affordability they have had the past couple of years.  We can see here that prices have gone up, but nowhere near the rate at which they did to start the last market craze.  Fear of a recession has many economists skeptical of where the market might head, but they all agree that there is no real estate market collapse on the horizon.

So, is now a good time to buy or sell?  The answer may be yes to both!  It very much depends on your situation and what your goals are.  The best way to help answer those is to sit down with a trusted real estate professional and see what things are doing in not only your market but your zip code and your local neighborhood.  Things are not as doom and gloom as the news makes everything out to be and the sky is not falling.

If you have any more questions or if you’re looking for some local answers to questions, reach out and let me know how I can help!

*About the stats: All reports are published in April 2023, based on data available at the end of March 2023. Information and statistics derived from Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Neither the Board nor its MLS guarantees nor is in any way responsible for its accuracy. Data maintained by the Board, or its MLS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.