It’s been a genuinely crazy year, and I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of articles about how hot the real estate market is right now. Friends sometimes tell me how fortunate I am to work in real estate during this fast-paced market, but I have to say it’s not all fun and games! If you represent buyers, it can be quite frustrating to see them get outbid or to see sellers expecting waivers of important buyer-protection contingencies.

So, I was happy to see news this week from Ryan Lundquist, who writes the Sacramento Appraisal Blog, showing that the seasonal peak in prices appears to have just passed. The coming month will tell if that trend continues, but it looks like we’re headed into a more normal fall, with prices settling down. Here’s a graph from Ryan’s latest post:

What does this mean for you?

If you’re a buyer, you may be able to shop with less stress and avoid the all-out bidding wars we saw this spring. There are plenty of sellers now who are willing to accept normal contingencies for appraisals, inspections, and loan approval, so you may feel more confident to have some safeguards in your home purchase process.

If you’re a seller, recognize that the feeding frenzy is cooling a bit, and you might not get 50 offers! 🙂 And maybe you’ll be on the market a few days or weeks longer, but make no mistake — it’s still a seller’s market. It’s just less of a frenzy.