Question: Will I see more homes being listed for sale in the fall or is there a steady drop in sales activity until next year?
Answer: It is completely normal for the market to slow down (pace of listing activity and contract activity) during the summer, but it was discussed much more this year because the preceding months were so crazy, locally and nationally, and everybody is on high alert to a potential bubble.
Nothing I have seen so far has suggested that the change in market conditions over the last couple of months is anything more than normal seasonal behavior, so I expect the next couple of months to lead to similar seasonal patterns as in years past (except for 2020).
This means a quick bump in post-Labor Day listing activity and contract activity, followed by a steady drop in both measures through the end of the year.
The chart below shows monthly listing and contract activity as a percentage of total annual activity for Arlington from 2015-2019, broken out by single-family homes (SFH)/townhouses (TH) and apartment-style condos/coops. The following bullets are some highlights I pulled from the data:
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The September bump in listing activity only lasts for a couple of weeks before starting a steady decline through the end of the year
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The SFH/TH and condo markets behave similarly, but the changes in condo activity aren’t as extreme as the SFH/TH market. The spring peaks and summer lull are closer to average for condos, meaning seasonality plays less of a role in the condo market than the SFH/TH market.
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The bump in post-Labor Day SFH/TH contract activity outlasts the short, but more extreme, burst in listing activity
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From October-December, contract activity exceeds new listing volume, but this generally does not lead to better sales results during this time of year
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The four months from March to June account for nearly 46% and 43% of annual SFH/TH and condo listing volume, respectively, and almost 44% and 40% of annual SFH/TH and condo contract activity, respectively.
If you’d like to discuss buying, selling, investing, or renting, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].
