The Big Thaw and the NAR Settlement

Friday certainly did not go as planned. The NAR settlement changed the course of my day and weekend. More on that later.

Spring has sprung in Jackson, WY. The Big Thaw from winter to spring has begun. Yesterday was nearly 50 degrees, and we expect high 40-degree weather with sunny blue skies again today. A few great weekends of spring skiing still ahead.

Switching to the big thaw in residential real estate: consumers no longer seem to have expectations that interest rates will return to 2022 levels. The stability of 6 percent mortgages is driving consumer confidence and activity. Mortgage buy-downs are becoming more popular. The Goldman Sachs chart below suggests interest rates may fall to 6 percent flat over the next two years.

Coming off the lowest unit volume of 2023 in decades, the Realtor.com trend lines for new listings by month are positive compared to 2023. As we near the end of Q1 2024 and enter the traditional spring selling season, it seems that buyers will have more choices.

The Realtor.com Active U.S. housing inventory for sale chart below has inventory building beyond levels seen since 2021. Now it's the buyers' turn to take down the inventory. Come and get it!

Our markets across the country perform very differently; real estate is local. From my listening posts, Q1 2024 has been busier than any Q1 since 2021, which included record low interest rates and the great COVID migration.

We are all thankful for the thaw!

Regarding the NAR settlement: it represents an exceptional opportunity for the good to become great. This includes real estate professionals and brokerage firms. Those individuals and/or companies that focus on perfecting the expression of their value proposition will gain market share.

It's that simple! If you have deeper questions, please call me.

This is Where We Are Now.

Mark McLaughlin serves as CEO of McLaughlin Ventures and M&A Advisory at WAV Group.

To view the original article, visit the McLaughlin Ventures blog.