Realtor Sandra Seymour Blog

  How Inflation Affects the Housing Market Have you ever wondered how  inflation  impacts the  housing market ? Believe it or not, they’re connected. Whenever there are changes to one, both are affected. Here’s a high-level overview of the connection between the two. The Relationship Between Housing Inflation and Overall Inflation Shelter inflation is the measure of price growth specific to housing. It comes from a  survey  of renters and homeowners that’s done by the  Bureau of Labor Statistics  (BLS). The survey asks renters how much they’re paying in rent, and homeowners how much they’d rent their homes for, if they weren’t living in them. Much like overall inflation measures the cost of everyday items, shelter inflation measures the cost of housing. And for four consecutive months, based on that survey, shelter inflation has been  coming down  ( see graph below ): Why does this matter? Well, shelter inflation makes up about one-third...

  Buyer Traffic Is Still Stronger than the Norm Are you putting off  selling your house  because you’re worried no one’s buying because of where mortgage rates are? If so, know this: the latest data shows plenty of buyers are still out there, and they’re  purchasing homes  today. Here’s the data to prove it. The  ShowingTime Showing Index  is a measure of buyers touring homes. The graph below uses the latest numbers available and compares them to the same month in the last normal years to show just how active today’s buyers still are: As you can see, when June 2023 numbers are stacked alongside what’s typical for the housing market at this time of year, it's clear buyers are still active. And, they’re actually a lot more active than the norm. If you’re wondering how this could possibly be true, it’s because buyers are getting used to higher mortgage rates and accepting them as the new reality. As Danielle Hale, Chief Economist,  Realtor.com ,...