If there is one word I would use to describe the real estate market right now, it’s selective.
Not slow.
Not dead.
Not necessarily a buyer’s market or a seller’s market.
Selective.
Mortgage rates have moved sharply higher again, with the average 30-year fixed rate reaching 7.28% last week. At the same time, buyers have more homes to choose from. Nationally, active inventory is up 6.3% compared with this time last year.
You might assume that combination would bring the market to a standstill.
It hasn’t.
The buyers who are still looking are often very serious. Nationally, homes actually spent two fewer days on the market than they did during the same week last year.
And that tells us something important about this fall market:
Buyers will act. But they need a reason to.
For Sellers: Being on the Market Isn't Enough
A year or two ago, sellers could sometimes rely on limited inventory to do some of the work for them.
That is becoming much harder.
Buyers today are looking at the entire equation: price, condition, monthly payment, location and how one property compares with everything else they have seen.
They are also paying attention before they ever walk through the door.
They’re saving listings. Comparing photos. Watching price changes. Tracking days on market. Sending properties back and forth. And deciding which homes actually deserve an appointment.
So when a property generates online interest but not enough showings—or showings but no offers—I don't automatically conclude that there isn't a buyer.
I look at what the market is telling us.
Is the price aligned with the competition?
Does the presentation justify the price?
Is there another property nearby giving buyers more for their money?
And perhaps most importantly: have we given the buyer a compelling reason to act now?
That last question matters more than ever.
Buyers Have More Leverage—But the Best Homes Still Have Leverage Too
For buyers, this market can offer opportunities that were difficult to find when every new listing seemed to have a line out the door.
There is more inventory. More sellers are adjusting prices. In September, 20.8% of listings nationally had experienced a price reduction—the highest share for any month since October 2022.
That can mean more room for negotiation.
But I would be careful about interpreting that as permission to wait indefinitely or assume every seller will negotiate.
The best properties—the ones that are priced correctly, presented beautifully and located where buyers want to be—can still generate competition.
That is why I continue to tell buyers:
Negotiate where there is leverage. Move decisively where there isn't.
Those two things can exist in the same market, sometimes within a few blocks of each other.
Ignore the Labels. Watch the Property.
I think buyers and sellers get themselves into trouble when they try to define the entire market with one headline.
“Rates are high.”
“Inventory is up.”
“It’s a buyer's market.”
“Prices are coming down.”
Those statements may describe pieces of the market. They don't necessarily describe your market—or your property.
Real estate is becoming increasingly hyperlocal and, frankly, hyper-specific.
A beautifully prepared home priced correctly may behave completely differently than another home in the same neighborhood that enters the market 5% too high.
Likewise, a buyer looking for something fairly common may have several choices and negotiating power. A buyer looking for a very specific location, layout, outdoor space, parking or view may have very little.
The question isn't simply:
“How is the market?”
The better question is:
“How is the market for this particular property, at this particular price, right now?”
That is where the real information is.
And in this fall market, the people who are willing to listen to what the market is telling them—then adjust quickly—are the ones most likely to win.
Thinking about buying or selling in Northern New Jersey? Let's talk about what the market is doing in your specific neighborhood and price point.