Go together nicely

What it’s like to buy and sell in the new, weird housing market

THE WASHINGTON POST

When Larry Frum listed his townhouse in Laurel, Md., this past August, his real estate agent assured him it would sell in three or four days. But that’s not what happened for the communications professional, who needed to relocate to Seattle by the end of September for a new job.

“Three to four days became a week, and then it became two weeks, and then it became a month,” he says. At two months, Frum reduced the price by $20,000.

Such a move would’ve been unusual only weeks earlier. In July, the average home in Frum’s area was selling for over asking in about 12 days. He’d entered the market, it turns out, during the final gasp of the nationwide seller’s bonanza that finally stalled once interest rates started to climb. By the time Frum’s townhouse was for sale, they’d risen from the historic lows of a couple years prior to about 5%. In October, they hit 7%, or more than double what they’d been at the beginning of 2022, putting mortgage payments out of reach for many buyers.

As a result, the rhythms of buying and selling have significantly slowed. For sellers who, a year ago, watched their neighbors field multiple, contingency-free offers, the idea of having to negotiate can be tough to accept. Buyers, meanwhile, may not have to compete, but their money won’t go nearly as far.

In this new, weird housing market, nobody really feels like a winner.

What it’s like to be a buyer

For starters, many buyers have given up, at least temporarily, thanks to soaring rates.

Emma Aarnes and her husband began hunting for a two-bedroom apartment in their Manhattan neighborhood last spring after finding out they were expecting a baby. In June, when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by the largest amount since 1994, the couple’s search took on more urgency. By July, they’d found an ideal co-op, but the very same day they made an offer, the Fed hiked rates again.

“We were like, okay, we’re stretched as is. And if the interest rates keep going up, our confidence in being able to sell our current apartment [will go] way down,” Aarnes says. The couple decided to pull their offer. “So we are still in our one-bedroom, which we have rearranged so that there is a nursery for our incoming arrival.”

For buyers still in the hunt despite the rates, the decreased competition means they can actually negotiate and take a night (or two or three) to consider their See Market, Page 10

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