Housing Affordability has impacted the housing market across the United States,
and for the first time in years, we saw a slow down in Houston home sales as early as
June. Typically, home sales slow in July and August as everyone leaves town to escape
the heat and take vacation, but this was an unusually slow summer for Houston.

As the weather starts to cool, interest rates are also dropping, so we could see a
robust housing market this Fall, despite the impending Presidential elections, which
typically slows down home buying.

In order to understand the impact that an election has on the housing market,
read the article by Bank Rate under Market Update. There really is no evidence that an
election year impacts home values, but homebuying confidence drops due to economic
uncertainty that is more imagined than real. Let’s face it, the outcome of an election is
not going to impact the U.S. economy overnight, yet home prices historically go up by
10% following an election.

The issue with home sales this year is not the impending election, it is housing
affordability—high home prices, high interest rates, and high insurance costs pushed
many buyers to the sidelines this summer. Even now as interest rates are slowly
dropping, buyers are moving more slowly than they have in years past. As a result, the
average days on the market is increasing and home prices are slowly decreasing.

The big question for sellers, “Is now a good time to sell?” My response in some
cases is yes, but January could be a better time, unless you must sell. Our goal as
professional realtors is to represent the best interest of our clients at all times, and in
recent weeks, we have advised some of our sellers to remove their homes from the
market until we see a favorable shift in the market conditions.

With 20% more inventory compared to the same time last year, the market
conditions have shifted away from a Seller’s Market to what we consider a Balanced
Market.