The Market Doesn’t Care What Anyone Thinks

At Keller Williams MegaCamp last week, Gary Keller shared a line that captures the current real estate market remarkably well:

“Buyers think it’s 2008.
Sellers think it’s 2021.
I think I’m still 25.
The market doesn’t care what anyone thinks.”

It’s funny because it’s true.

Many buyers remember the housing crash in 2008 and expect today’s market to eventually produce similar bargains. Some are waiting for prices to fall dramatically or hoping that sellers will become desperate enough to accept offers well below market value.

Meanwhile, many sellers remember the extraordinary market of a few years ago in 2021, when homes could attract multiple offers almost immediately and buyers routinely competed to make their offers more attractive. Some sellers still expect their homes to sell as though those conditions never changed.

Neither expectation determines what a home is worth today.

The market does.

Real estate markets are ultimately the accumulated decisions of thousands of individual buyers and sellers. Interest rates matter. Inventory matters. Employment and population trends matter. So do the location, condition, price, and desirability of an individual property.

But nostalgia doesn’t matter.

That is why one of the most important things we as real estate brokers can do for our clients is help them distinguish between the market they remember, the market they wish existed, and the market that actually exists.

For sellers, that means looking carefully at what comparable properties are actually selling for and how long they are taking to sell. For buyers and investors, it means understanding where opportunities really exist rather than waiting for a market that may never arrive.

None of us gets to choose the market of today.

We do get to decide how well we understand it—and what we do with the opportunities it gives us.

Faithfully yours,

John for The Ramsey Team

johnramsey@kw.com

360.499.2221

www.trtre.com