A Return to Seasonality? Why This Summer Market Indicates a 2023 Housing Recovery
In a typical housing market, the spring and summer seasons are usually marked by higher prices, increased sales volume, and more homes coming onto the market, but today’s market is far from normal. Those historical patterns have been upended since 2020. However, according to NerdWallet, some housing barometers are pointing toward a return to normalcy, at least to a small but promising extent.
Prices are typically lower at the start of the year and increase at a steady rate into the summer months. In 2020 and 2021, home prices peaked in December, and throughout 2022, housing costs fell in the nation’s most overpriced metros. This year, however, prices are following a more traditional pattern and reaching their highest point over the summer before an anticipated decline in the fall.
Price growth this year isn’t expected to match the unusually robust ascent of 2020 and 2021 but likely won’t decrease in the latter half of the year as dramatically as it did in 2022, either. Buyers are becoming accustomed to higher rates as the new normal, and unlike last year when those rates were a shock, they will continue to shop for homes in the latter half of 2023. This means you may see prices peak in the summer before a slight decline in the fall, resembling a more traditional seasonal path.