What is a Balanced Market?

The common real estate industry’s definition considers the market balanced if it takes 6 months for all inventory to be bought up with no new homes coming on the market. Common yes. PNW no. We just have too many buyers than sellers. The last time we truly had a balanced market in our area was just after the recession of ’08. A common timeframe for days-on-the-market in our area is 22-28 days, not even close to six months. So, as a seasoned Realtor in the great northwest, whatever the timeframe, I consider a balanced market to be when we have as many buyers as we do sellers. And trust me, this does not happen very often. We did see it last June and this year in January and February, but then it quickly reverted back to a seller’s market as more buyers than new listings hit the market.

So will we see a balanced market again (my definition, not the industry standard)?  Maybe. If interest rates were to remain in the 7% range for a few months it is likely things will start to balance out. But, as soon as the rates drop back down into the sixes, we’ll steadily push back into a typical PNW seller’s market.