Buyer Activity Is Up Despite Higher Mortgage Rates

You may be wondering if it's still a good time to sell your house if you're a homeowner considering moving. The good news is this. In spite of increased borrowing rates, buyer activity is accelerating.

The graph below shows the current ShowingTime Showing Index data, which is a measure of buyers actively touring homes and provides insight into how much the buyer demand has grown recently:

The graph indicates that there was a considerable increase in buyer traffic throughout the first two months of 2023. That's probably because buyers continued looking for homes despite the colder months due to the small quantity of available properties.

Let's compare the amount of foot traffic in February to each February over the previous six years (see graph below) to help illustrate why the most recent report is important. It demonstrates that February of this year was among the best for buyer activity in recent memory.

The greatest February buyer activity we've seen in the previous six years occurred in 2021 and 2022 (highlighted in green above), but those were incredibly odd years for the housing market. In light of this, evidence indicates that February 2023 will nevertheless see a noticeable increase in buyer activity as compared to the earlier, more typical pre-pandemic years.

Given the rise in mortgage rates in February, the increase in buyer traffic is all the more noteworthy. The 30-year fixed Freddie Mac mortgage rate increased from 6.09% the week of February 2nd to 6.50% the following week. However, more buyers were looking for a home even with higher rates.

The rise in buyer activity, according to Jeff Tucker, Senior Economist at Zillow, could continue:

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