It may be a bit early to call, but the greatly constrained supply of homes in the valley has started to ease a bit. For those who follow the actual real estate trends in the valley (not the usually misstated national news) this year began with supply dropping precipitously. The effect of the constrained supply without an equally corresponding drop in demand contributed to a huge pricing push. But the third quarter typically brings seasonal adjustments in demand – and this year is no exception. The local news and real estate community has overall done a decent job on getting the word out that values are up and supply down. That has encouraged sellers to consider moving from bystanders to players again. So more traditional sellers have re-entered the market while demand has done the seasonal slowing. This is encouraging news for buyers who have been experiencing huge frustrations on trying to buy a home. Now, easing supply does not mean that it is a cake walk for buyers. It simply means that the tightened supply has eased a bit.
One last comment on pricing, while the price rise has momentarily slowed due to the supply and seasonal adjustments, it would still appear that prices are likely to rise next year. Particularly in new builds (the current solution for frustrated re-sale buyers) builders are anticipating next year’s pricing to be up close to 20%. So the mantra remains the same for the year – if you want to buy, do so now.