With the end of summer and the arrival of the fall housing market, it’s easy to get the feeling that home buyers are packing it in for the season and things won’t heat up again until next spring. Some of that is the usual seasonal ebb-and-tide. Some of it is the steady rise of mortgage rates over the past several weeks, making affordability conditions more challenging. But while the market may seem like it’s about to hibernate, there’s evidence that buyers may not be ready yet and will move as soon as they see a good deal. In fact, according to one recently released analysis of online home shopping behavior, buyer demand is pent-up but remains high. The data, taken from an analysis of second-quarter home shoppers, shows a 21-percent, year-over-year jump in consumers who saved or shared an online home listing. Over the same period, home sales only increased 4.5 percent. What this indicates is a large share of home buyers who are watching the market and serious about buying but who haven’t yet found the right place at the right price. (source)
