Market News July 19

Market Updates

Today's Market News:

High Prices Contribute to Fewer Pending Sales


It's not a new problem, but it's not any less frustrating. High housing costs and economic instability are currently discouraging many would-be home buyers.

During the four weeks ending June 7th, the median U.S. home-sale price hit $400,894...up 1.5% year-over-year. That marks the first time the typical American existing home has sold for over $400,000.

Monthly payments are historically high, too. The typical monthly payment for the four weeks ending June 7th was $2,619, just $8 shy of late May's 11-month high.

There may be a light at the end of the tunnel, as the United States and Iran are expected to formalize a peace agreement later this week. This may improve some buyers' outlook, since many have postponed homebuying plans because of the Iran conflict and rising inflation.1

Is Climate Change Affecting Your Business?


If your territory is within a state that's seen more than its fair share of extreme weather, you may be interested in recent research carried out by data analytics provider Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE).

This research has been presented as a white paper and contains data and analytics that tell us how extreme climate events are influencing home price growth. Here are some details:

  • Homebuyer delinquency probabilities rise by 21% after a tropical storm or hurricane and rise by 18% after a flood.
  • On average, home values in high flood-risk ZIP code areas appreciated 0.2-0.4% slower per year when compared to lower risk areas.
  • Wildfires pushed delinquency probability numbers up much higher in affected areas — well over 200%, typically within 1-3 months.
The white paper Climate risk is already reshaping the U.S. housing market includes statistics that show that climate risk and extreme weather events are affecting housing values in clear, measurable ways. Click here if you'd like to download this 23-page white paper.2

Property Listings Set to Go Interactive


Soon, your property listings may get involved in selling themselves, thanks to a new AI-powered platform called Infinityy. Currently in limited release, it answers prospective buyers' questions in more than 75 languages.

Infinityy CEO Lisa Nickerson explained the inspiration behind this new platform:

"The consumer experience had become fragmented, passive and disconnected from how people actually make decisions today. We saw an opportunity to transform the listing from a static marketing page into an interactive decision-making environment."

The AI assistant engages visitors by enabling them to ask questions naturally. For example, a prospective buyer might ask about a listing's layout, nearby amenities, commute times, or related topics.

When buyers are ready to act, they can instantly connect with an agent through text, voice or even live collaborative video directly inside the listing itself.

Interested agents can join the Infinityy waitlist at this web page.3

Make Time to Be Chatty on Social Media


If you tuned into this newsletter last week, you learned how to respond to bad reviews. Now we're going to look at something that can be considerably more fun — responding to your social media comments.

Engaging with your audience is a key element of social media. People who post any sort of comment — whether they're interested in one of your listings or love your pet photos — deserve a response.

If you've assumed that responding to these posts is optional, think again. Recent research by social management application Buffer analyzed over 2 million posts that appeared within several platforms. The results proved that responding to followers and commenters can boost your posts' engagement and, in some cases, your networking efforts.

Not all social media delivered the same results:

  • Threads posts came out on top, with a 42% increase in engagement when a post's creator replied to comments.
  • LinkedIn posts saw a 30% increase in overall engagement.
  • Instagram posts saw a 21% increase.
  • Facebook engagement rose by 9% on average.
  • Twitter/X only saw an 8% increase in overall activity.
While you may want to concentrate your responses within your most active social media accounts, it's worth taking the time to respond to as many comments as possible.4

Get More Green for a Home with a Sage Green Color Scheme

While white walls may seem the safest choice, today's buyers are drawn to other colors. A recent Paint Color Analysis found that they're drawn to warm interiors, with shades of green and brown contributing to higher home values.

Sage green is the standout performer, as it's the only color to rank highly in every single room of a home. A sage green bedroom may add more than $1,000 to offer prices.

Chocolate brown, while not the favorite for every room, logged the highest potential rise in sales price. Bedrooms painted chocolate brown could get sellers $2,277 added to a buyer's offer price.

Charcoal gray is popular in kitchens, of all places. A kitchen painted charcoal gray or dark plum may get the highest offers. Getting the kitchen color right is the most potentially profitable move, as the range between the best and worst colors is nearly $8,000.

However, there's one color to avoid...ochre yellow.

Ochre yellow, fire-hydrant red and pale pink are getting thumbs-down from potential buyers. An entire home painted ochre yellow may see its value plunge by around $18,164, while a yellow kitchen could penalize sellers by over $6,000. A single bathroom painted fire-hydrant red may cost a seller around $8,000. Barbiecore pink is definitely past its prime, as pale pink sank to the bottom of buyers' color preferences.5

Sources: 1redfin.com, 2mortgagetech.ice.com, 3nar.realtor, 4socialmediatoday.com, 5zillow.mediaroom.com