A Sad State of Affairs

I despair regularly at the current state of the real estate market. Clients this week found a house they loved, and in the days leading up to the offer review they talked several times to their mortgage broker, and paced back and forth so much they likely wore a groove into the hardwood. We must have checked the math with them a dozen times. This was a momentous and difficult decision for them. They were likely equal parts excited and terrified.

But when the time came, the seller ignored their full price offer (1M) even though it was the only offer they got, and the house had been exposed to the market for a week. Finally, some time after their offer had died the sellers countered, adding 150K to their list price. We expected more, was the blunt message their agent delivered.

There is a sort of anarchy afoot. And a sense of entitlement that runs far deeper than common sense should permit. The market is changing - interest rates are rising fast and inventory levels are the highest we’ve seen in a good while. Buyers have both more choice and less buying power. There is no reason any more to expect multiple offers on every house, or for counter-offers hundreds of thousands over the asking price to pass the smell test. It feels clear that there is, even after all the madness of the last couple of years, an expiry date on everything.