Not unlike winter-weary gardeners eager for signs of spring, mortgage managers and LOs are keeping watch for better days in the housing marketplace. According to recent research from Redfin, housing recovery may be in the air.
Let’s take a closer look:
• Taylor Marr, Redfin chief deputy economist, noted that the company’s Homebuyer Demand Index, which measures tour requests and other buying services from agents, increased 6% over last month. Google searches for “homes for sale” are also on the rise, he said.
• Nearly 25% of Redfin.com users said they were interested in moving to a different metro area according to a Q4 2022 survey – that’s an increase from 22.1% in 2021 and around 18% pre-pandemic. Taylor observed that the remote work trend has enabled prospects to expand their search for less expensive housing.
• While it may be too soon to pinpoint the housing market’s recovery, the cyclical nature of mortgage banking means it’s not a matter of “if” but “when.” And when it does bounce back, will your LOs be ready to handle the demand?
For a deeper dive, check out Taylor’s article, “The Housing Market is Starting to Recover.”