While it is always hard to estimate how many buyers are currently active in the market, one way is to examine the number of showings taking place on a group of listings compared to a similar group of listings one year prior. Analyzing showings on Re/Max Results listings for the months of March, April, and May we find that showings are down considerably from last year indicating there are significantly less buyers now than a year ago. March showed the smallest drop at 21% less while April reports 36% less showings than April 2009. The biggest drop-off was May which only had 42% of the showings that last May had, a 58% drop in buyers viewing properties.
The numbers do not translate exactly but the stats show that there are less buyers in the market now than one year ago. For sellers, this means that they have to price aggressively and show better than the competition to attract a smaller crop of potential buyers. For buyers, this means they have more choices and more leverage in negotiating. For the market as a whole, we could see downward pressure on prices if this trend continues through the summer.
-Michael
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