The Market Is Sorting — Here's Where the Opportunity Is

The Association's June numbers are out, and the story underneath is more interesting than the headline.

Last month I said first-time buyers should look at condos. June says that was right, at least for now. More on that below.

Here's what stood out in June:

Sales up 9.8%. Active listings down 11%. Single-family benchmark flat at $1,053,700. Homes taking longer to sell, 58 days on average.

More selling, less available, prices holding, things sitting longer. Those don't usually go together.

My read: the people who need to move are moving, and everyone else is waiting. What's priced right is going. What isn't is sitting, and there's enough of that to stretch the average. It's not a market that's rising or falling. It's sorting.

The opportunity in that is real, and it looks different depending on what you're after.

Condos

The clearest one. Sales up 26.9%, benchmark down 3.4% to $495,100. More buyers moving, prices a bit softer. If you're a first-time buyer or looking to add a rental, this is the segment working in your favour right now.

Single-family

The mixed one. Prices are flat, not falling, but homes are sitting longer and there's less to choose from than last year. If you're buying, what's out there is priced more honestly than it was, and the seller still holding out for 2022 knows they've been sitting two months. If you're selling, flat prices are better news than they sound, but the number you pick in the first two weeks may be crucial.

Townhouses

The quiet middle. Prices barely moved. Not much drama either direction, which for a move-up buyer is its own kind of opening. Less competition, less urgency, room to be patient.

If you're trying to sort out what this means for your situation, that's the part I like best. Reach out and tell me what you're weighing.