{"id":1598,"date":"2018-08-05T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-05T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/preprod.realtrends.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/05\/five-months-row-pending-home-sales\/"},"modified":"2025-03-13T02:26:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T02:26:46","slug":"five-months-row-pending-home-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/preprod.realtrends.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/05\/five-months-row-pending-home-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Months in a Row Pending Home Sales Down\u2014Again"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What should brokers be focusing on with regards to a declining home sales market?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The National Association of Realtors\u00ae reported that their Pending homes sales index reflected the fifth month in a row of declining home sales on an annualized basis. Five months of declining pending home sales indicate more than a seasonal flutter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As with others, I look around and listen to brokerage firms in the Denver area, as well as in other areas. What I\u2019ve heard is that even sky-high markets like Seattle and Denver are seeing increased inventory and a decrease in the aggressiveness of buyers in mid- to upper-price ranges regarding multi-offer situations. We\u2019ve read about this same situation in other markets as well\u2014declining home sale units and increased inventory. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Real Deal<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and other publications, for instance, are reporting this about the New York City market.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Learning from the Past<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having lived through the build-up to the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dot-com_bubble\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">1999-2001 stock market crash<\/a> and the build-up to the 2006-2010 housing market crash<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, I can share this. Both times, the Federal Reserve Board waited far too long to raise rates to cool off the speculation that was rampant during those times. Further, they had very loose monetary positions, pumping substantial liquidity into the nation\u2019s financial system. Once they started to tighten, both markets reacted suddenly and overwhelmingly.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Possible Reasons for Slowdown<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the reasons the housing market is showing signs of a slowdown is due to rising rates. It makes owning more expensive, especially impacting first-time homebuyers. But, more likely than not, it also affects move-up buyers in that they are faced with high rates on their new mortgage compared to the ones they got six to eight years ago. That change could be, for instance, from 2.75 percent on their old mortgage to 4.25 percent on their new mortgage. That\u2019s a huge jump for many.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another reason, of course, is that home prices in most markets have appreciated at far higher rates than the growth in incomes across the country for the last nine years since the recession formally ended. Housing prices rose three times as much as household incomes did since 2009. This varies from market to market<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, but, overall, this is the case for the entire country. It was only a matter of time when the average-priced home is out of reach for growing numbers of Americans, whether they are <a href=\"2017s-best-worst-places-for-first-time-home-buyers-wallethub-study\/\">first-time buyers<\/a> or move-up.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><strong>What Should a Brokerage Focus on Now?<\/strong><\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having worked with brokerage leaders through four housing market downturns, REAL Trends has observed the following about what the most successful did. They:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">o &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reduced capital spending wherever possible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">o &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reviewed every expense line and removed spending from areas that were not strictly addressing listings, sales and recruiting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">o &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shortened up leases for space wherever possible and reduced space.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[G9] <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">o &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Got credit lines in place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">o &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Preserved cash.<\/span><\/p>\n<h6><strong>The Most Important Thing to Do<\/strong><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most importantly than the above is to<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp;get closer to your organization. Spend more organized time with your top agents and key leadership team members. As we said in our white paper, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Against all Odds<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the stories of REAL Trends 500 companies that grew through the 2006-2010 downturn, they got closer to their people, thought and acted strategically and were intentional in all they did.<\/span><\/p>\n<h6><strong>What Happens Next?<\/strong><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Fed has said that they intend to raise rates twice more this year and perhaps three more times in 2019. It\u2019s certainly possible to see mortgage rates above 5 percent before the year is over should the Fed follow through with these plans. The economy seems to be bearing up well with the rate hikes already in place. Unemployment is at an all-time low for almost every demographic group in the country. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we\u2019ve written before, the percent of households buying a home each year averages about 4.5 percent over the last 40 years. That is where it is right now. While demand remains high due to higher household formations, the lack of inventory has limited the ability of households to buy. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h6><strong>This Isn\u2019t a Bad Thing<\/strong><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A slowdown at this moment is not a bad outcome. Inventory levels are rising<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and prices softening are not an adverse outcome. A cooling off of the housing market is not a bad thing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ve seen the alternative. When the Fed raised interest rates too late in an economic cycle, in 1980, 1989 and 2005-2006, the downturn in housing sales was more painful than it had to be. It appears that this time, they said they were going to raise them two years ago, raised them a little last year, several times more this year and have communicated they will continue to do so. While there may be some discomfort in the brokerage industry as we adjust, it may enable us to avoid steep declines in housing sales and economic activity later.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What should brokers be focusing on with regards to a declining home sales market? The National Association of Realtors\u00ae reported that their Pending homes sales index reflected the fifth month in a row of declining home sales on an annualized basis. Five months of declining pending home sales indicate more than a seasonal flutter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15802,"featured_media":4822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3255],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v26.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Five Months in a Row Pending Home Sales Down\u2014Again<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The National Association of Realtors\u00ae reported that their Pending Homes Sales index reflected the fifth month in a row of declining home sales on an annualized basis. 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