There’s No Such Thing As A “Good” Or “Bad” Real Estate Market

The real estate market is driven by the decisions of buyers and sellers, which are in turn driven by larger economic conditions, like supply and demand, mortgage rates, and how confident they are in their jobs and earnings.When times are tough, like a recession, it changes things. But that doesn’t mean nobody is going to buy or sell; there are always people who need to do so. For example, you could say it’s a horrible time to buy a car because there’s a shortage of cars, and demand is high, so it costs more to buy one. But if your car breaks down and you need a new one, it doesn’t matter what the market is doing, you’re going to buy one.Same with real estate. Sure, it isn’t usually as cut and dry as a car that stops working, but people have to sell or buy a house for many solid reasons in any given market, because their current situation isn’t working for them.For instance, their house is too small, or they need to downsize to save money, or they’re being relocated out of the area for a job, etc. The people who need to buy or sell (for whatever reason) then collectively create the current market conditions.Buyers and sellers determine market value by what buyers are willing to pay, and sellers are willing to accept, at any given moment in time. All the agents helping those buyers and sellers can only help each one of their respective clients make the best decisions for their personal situation at any given time.When you’re hearing news about home prices remaining high, and mortgage rates skyrocketing, you might wonder how a real estate agent can possibly claim it’s a great time to buy. Or, on the other hand, you read that sales prices are coming down and it’s taking longer to sell because rates have gone up, it may make you question how agents can claim that it’s a great time to sell.Let’s break it down a little more:
The market is never good for everyone. That said, it’s never bad for everyone. But it is always good for some people, and bad for others. The job of an agent is to help people who need to buy or sell a house figure out if they’re in a position to do so, determine what their best move is, and get them the best results.