Believe it or not, there are clear signs buyer interest is heating up again. Let’s talk about what’s really going on behind the scenes, and why the housing market might not be as quiet out there as it seems.
Buyers Are Looking, and Search Trends Prove It
One of the clearest ways to measure what people are thinking about is to look at what they are searching for online. And according to Goggle Trends, searches for phrases like “home for sale” have been climbing steadily this year.
The graph below shows an index of two common homebuyer search phrases and how popular they were on Goggle over the past two years. The higher the line goes, the more popular that phrase was. A 100 on the graph shows the most popular time for each phrase:
Here’s what really stands out in this data. Both phrases have been trending up overall this year, and they hit a recent high in mid-July. That’s a pretty strong sign that curiosity (and maybe even interest) in buying a home is improving.
That kind of momentum means something. Despite high mortgage rates and home prices, buyers haven’t given up. They are still watching the market. They are still browsing. And many are just waiting for the right opportunity to act. Maybe your house is exactly what they’re looking for. But you’ll never know if it’s not listed yet.
Now, this doesn’t mean demand is going to surge like it did during the pandemic. It just means some buyers are deciding they can’t wait any longer. And those are exactly the kind of buyers you want. Ready to move when the right house comes along.
So, if you are holding off on selling because you are not sure if the demand is there, this data suggests it might be time to rethink your plans. Because while it’s not 2021-level demand, it doesn’t need to be. You don’t need ten offers to sell your home. You must need the right buyer.
And that buyer may be searching for a house like yours right now.
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