July Stats - Taking Twice as Long to Sell

It's taking more than twice as long to sell a home in New Orleans compared to last July.

The median number of days it took to get a property under contract in July was 33. Keep in mind, that means half of the homes were on the market longer than that.

That jump looks startling because homes sold faster in the COVID days of 3% mortgage rates than they ever had before. The reality is, the median days on market in July of 2019 was 33 also. (July 2018 - 38 days; July 2017 - 41 days) So the amount of time it takes to get under contract right now is more rule than exception.

The reason we've more than doubled the days on market is due to buyers' lack of motivation.

Buyers are browsing online right now, without much inspiration to take a look at listings in person. The number of showings a listing can expect to get in a month is practically half of what it was two years ago.

Sellers seem to have adjusted their expectations by now, which includes being more willing to negotiate on inspection issues. Buyers no longer wonder if a house is haunted by the ghost of Phyllis Diller because it's been on the market for more than a week. What we have resembles a more normal summer market in New Orleans.