By coinnews 
00:00 Speaker A
We’re in the heart of the spring home buying season, but while sellers are putting their homes on the market, buyers aren’t materializing. Here to break down the data is senior reporter Claire Boston. So, Claire, typically, this is the time of year that we see activity pick up, right? But what are we seeing right now and why?
00:17 Claire Boston
Yeah, Ali, it’s a really weird market right now. We are seeing listings rise quite a bit. They’re up about 30% since last April, but when it comes to actually homes going under contract, things like that, we are down a little bit, about 3% from a year earlier. So what that is telling me is that sellers are really ready to list their homes in this market, but the buyers, you know, they’re picky. They have more to choose from. Interest rates are still really high. They feel like they can wait in this environment.
00:49 Speaker A
So what about on the seller’s side? What concessions are they willing to make in order to just sell their home as quickly as possible?
00:56 Claire Boston
Yes, so the first thing we’re seeing is just a straight up price cut. Um, according to Zillow data, about 25% of homes in April had some sort of price cut, and that was, I think, the highest level since about 2018. So if sellers are missing the mark on pricing, they will adjust. We’re also seeing things like closing cost assistance become a lot more popular, just as a tool to really get that buyer to the finish line, you know, have them save what can be in some cases tens of thousands of dollars on their transaction.
01:22 Speaker A
I also wanted to ask you about a new study from realtor.com that points to a potential silver lining when it comes to a recession or our economic downturn. Can you break down what this study is telling us?
01:35 Claire Boston
Right. So we are talking a lot about economic uncertainty on this show pretty much every day. And what realtor found was that if we enter a recession, up to 30% of potential buyers would actually be more willing to buy in that recession. And I think that that speaks to, you know, kind of an understanding that these times of uncertainty can be an opportunity. You know, and of course, during the 2008 financial crisis, home prices fell. You know, I don’t think anyone is really thinking that we’re going to see a repeat of that just in terms of how bad it was, but you know, some buyers are really looking for that opportunity for prices to fall and use that as a time to enter the market.
02:19 Speaker A
Yeah, it seems like it’s all about finding the right opportunity at the right time. Claire Boston, thank you so much for tracking that ever elusive housing market for us. Appreciate it.
02:29 Claire Boston
Thank you.