Dear Monica: I am looking to buy a home and have noticed a shift. There are more properties on the market than before and I am seeing some price reductions, which didn’t happen earlier in the year. What is happening in the real estate market now? Beverly C.

 

Dear Beverly: There is a change in the market now from what we saw in the spring. The peak months for real estate sales and prices this year was March/April. Things slowed in the summer, which is not unusual, but now that it’s mid-September, we are seeing fewer multiple offers and lower bids. The rising prices we saw in the spring cannot be sustained and so prices are leveling off and in some cases, diminishing, from what they were a few months ago.

 

Mortgage interest rates have risen to the 4.5% range, which affects what buyers can pay. Other factors too, such as recent tax law changes, tariffs on imports, and others, have made buyers more concerned about how these changes will affect them. If you are a buyer, this is a better market for you. But sellers, who expect the price surges they saw last spring, are disappointed that their properties are not getting bid up as they’d hoped. It may take time for them to realize that the market has changed.