The market is reportedly shifting with buyers gaining back some of their negotiating power after a nearly 2-year seller market. According to a survey conducted by Realtor.com 92% of homeowners who have sold their home within the past year, included some more buyer-friendly terms. Around 41% also accepted contract contingencies, including appraisals, home inspections, home sales, and financing.
This data is assumed to show that negotiations are once again entering the housing market both in terms of the pricing of homes, and also in the contract terms that sellers are willing to accept.
In February and March, 82% of homes were sold at either the asking price or above it. This was while the mortgage interest rates were still at around 4%. Last month that percentage dropped to 69% as the interest rate is nearly 6%. Currently, a 30-year fixed rate is around 5.55% according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.
In the meantime, those who sold their homes below the asking price rose from 18% at the beginning of the year to around 31% last month.
Buyers are also starting to be pickier. In the past month, 95% of homeowners accepted an inspection. This percentage is higher than the 82% who had accepted one in the past 6 to 12 months.
There was also an increase in the number of buyers looking for repairs after an inspection. As a result, the number of buyers who refused to make repairs fell from 8% to 0.
According to George Ratiu, manager of economic research for Realtor.com, these numbers show that the market is slowly moving away from favoring sellers and is returning to normalcy slowly.
