The spring housing market

Spring is generally a busy time for home sales. What's the market like this year? This

is Cincinnati Edition on WVXU. I'm Lucy May. Joining me now to discuss buying, selling

and market conditions in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky are a sipsy-cline executive sales

vice president, Roxanne Quals, and Comian Shepard, real-terse executive vice president,

Rebecca Weber. Thank you both for being here today. Well, thank you for having me. Thanks,

Lucy. And full disclosure, my husband and I have been clients of Rebecca's. So it's

good to see you again, Rebecca. It's great to be here. Thanks, Lucy. Yeah. I want to ask

both of you, Spring, as I mentioned, is usually peak time to buy a home. Roxanne, what are

you seeing right now? Is it busy? Well, things have gotten busy, yes. And, you know, in

part, because what we're seeing is that inventory is up. And with the recent decline in interest

rates, buyers are becoming back into the market. And in terms of the information that we've been

getting and the stats that we've been seeing, it looks very positive. Yeah. What about Northern

Kentucky, Rebecca? Is it busy in Northern South of the River too? It's busy. Buyers are a little bit

pickier these days, a little bit more uncertainty in the world. So it's taking a little bit longer

for buyers to decide and land on what they're going to purchase. But inventory is still tight,

because we have a smaller data set in Northern Kentucky than we do in Cincinnati.

Well, Rebecca, how are mortgage rates affecting the market? I think they've been fluctuating

up and down a little bit. So people that still need to move will move. And if their interest rates

a little higher, they'll wait to refinance or they'll do an adjustable rate. Roxanne has the war

in Iran had an impact on interest rates and people's feelings about moving and buying and selling.

Well, the interest rates have increased slightly as a result of the war in Iran. And we're not really

going to know statistically the impact of the war until next month when we see the March figures.

But what I'm sure Rebecca also is seeing is that in general buyers like anybody, not just buyers

of real estate, they don't like unpredictability. And they, particularly when it comes to spending

money and large amounts of money. And so I anticipate that we're going to see pull back a little bit

if not, if not substantially in the March stats. What about home inventory locally?

Rebecca, you mentioned it's still pretty tight in Northern Kentucky. I thought I'd read somewhere

that it was increasing, but is that not right? So inventory in Northern Kentucky active listings

are up 1.2%. So that's not enough to be scared, in my opinion. Just in my own experience,

we've still had a hard time finding the right house. So you can have inventory all day. It's about

finding the right house. So buyers are a little pickier right now because of that uncertainty out

there. They're really making sure everything is in alignment. And inspections are a little bit more

challenging these days. A little bit harder. Yeah. What are you seeing in Cincinnati, Roxanne?

Well, interestingly enough, and the greater Cincinnati region that what we're seeing as you're

over, your inventory has actually substantially increased to 18, almost 19%. However, new listings

are up only about not actually 4%, but close to 4%. Well, actually it has gone down close to

4%. And so what that means is that properties are lingering on the market longer. Not all properties,

but some properties. And that's one of the reasons why if you're a seller, this is no longer the day

of, you know, have the open house and people are lined up down the block, or your agent is going

to have to manage 20 multiple offers. Those days are gone. Unless you might still have multiple

offers for the perfect house and the perfect location. But the message to sellers is that while

it's still a seller's market, you need to price strategically. Yeah. That Goldilocks house is a

tricky thing to find. Yes. So how long are homes staying on the market, Roxanne? Well, days on

market, at least in the greater Cincinnati region, are up. But they're up from 34 to 35 on average.

But you'll still see properties that with zero days on market and some with much longer. And again,

what you're seeing is depending upon where you are and what the house is, then on a very, very local

level, because all real estate is very local, you know, that both buyers and sellers need to be aware

of that. What are you saying in Northern Kentucky, Rebecca? So well, for 2025, the days on market rose

to 39 overall nationally. And then Northern Kentucky, so far this year in 2026 is at 42 days,

which seems long. If you go into micro markets, Covington's about 35. Still, if it's the right house

in the right location, it's not going to be anywhere close to that. It's going to be a lot shorter.

I mean, I just had a listing that went in 24 hours. Oh, wow. So it just depends. It depends on

the micro market. And I always say Cincinnati, greater Cincinnati, which includes Northern Kentucky,

is a community of main streets and micro markets. So it really depends on where you are and what it

is. Sure. Yeah. I mean, in Northern Kentucky, Covington's going to be very different than Union

Kentucky and that's absolutely. And Covington is just exploding right now. So there's very different

data. Makes sense. Well, we're talking about the spring housing market. Do you have questions or

comments? Give us a call at 513-419-7100 or you can email talk at wbxu.org. So Roxanne, you just

mentioned it's still a seller's market, but are all these different factors we've been talking

about? Is it making it a better market for buyers? Despite the mortgage rates being a little higher

and that sort of thing, I mean, is it a better market for buyers than it was in those days where you

had to almost put down your offer before you got a home inspection? Well, I think that what I would

say is that while it's still a seller's market, that the buyers who are in the market, many of them

are much more sophisticated than just what used to be just the general buyers market because they,

it's a much smaller pool. And they also are much more conscious of the fact that they are very

clear on what they want. And so they're not going to just take whatever is put in front of them.

So there's much more negotiation that's possible, particularly in the majority of situations,

not in that unique property, but in the majority of situations. And so I think that for buyers,

it still is a seller's market, but there's room for negotiation oftentimes,

which it used to not be the case. So you can negotiate usually now around inspections. You can

usually negotiate around closing dates. You can negotiate around a number of other things.

Not, you're not going to be able to just put it to the tub extract as much as possible,

you know, kind of your vision of what you would, what you think is a really great, great deal,

particularly, you know, but you're going to actually be able to have some leverage that you didn't

have before. We're negotiating again. And you weren't, I mean, for a long time. Yeah. Yeah. How does

that feel weird? Yes. Gotta get those muscles built up again. The nice thing is that the median

sale prices are down. So buyers have a better position and they can negotiate where they,

we haven't done that in five years. Really since COVID started, we haven't negotiated.

We might have negotiated at inspection a little bit, but we're negotiating sales price

initially. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Well, we will continue our conversation after a short break. And

later in the program, how the national debt affects our everyday lives, including mortgage rates.

This is Cincinnati edition. You're listening to Cincinnati edition on WVXU. I'm Lucy May. We're

back with our conversation about the spring housing market. My guests are Comian Shepherd Realtors

Executive Sales Vice President Rebecca Weber and Sipsi Klein Executive Sales Vice President Roxanne

Quals. You can join the conversation by calling 513-419-7100 or you can email talk at wvxu.org. I

want to ask you both, what is the situation when it comes to new construction versus existing homes?

I'll start with you, Rebecca. What are you seeing there? I think people can't find what they

want in a resale. So new construction becomes a really good alternative. And I also think that there's

been demand for new construction because multiple offers have been so prevalent for so many years

that having new construction allows the buyer to be in control of their destiny. And as the market

is settling down a little bit, in my world, new construction isn't necessarily where people are

focused. They want a resale home that they don't have to go through the trials and tribulations

with a builder. What are you seeing Roxanne? What's interesting is that on new construction,

we're actually seeing that in terms of the days on market for what is a finished new construction

home that that actually is declining. But part of what it is is because developers are adding

all sorts of incentives. And so for folks who want to get in the market and perhaps they even might

prefer what is referred to as a used home, which I really don't like that term at all,

that they might find that in terms of their financing, that it's possible to get more

home in a new home than in what they would in what they might prefer. Even though there are some

people who prefer new construction. So we're seeing that that's playing a factor, but also that

construction business has been impacted. Rebecca, you during the break, you told me a fun fact

about, yes, kind of new construction people who buy their homes new. How long are they staying

there these days? Well, home buyers are staying in their homes now about 15 years versus

historically five to seven. So that's a lot longer than what we have been, what we as realtors

count on people moving often. So that's a little bit longer. So what that means for us is when we

have a person that's been in their home for 15 years, we have to work with them on the maintenance

and the mechanicals and the infrastructure of the home to make sure when they're marketing it,

we're not going to fall into inspection problems. Sure, because if it was brand new when they got it,

they might kind of still emotionally think of it as a new house, but if it's 15 years old,

there might be some stir effects, things like that. So Roxanne, do you feel like the market is

cooling in Cincinnati? Or is that the wrong word to use? Is it still a really vibrant market?

Is there a lot going on or are things cooling down a little bit? Well, I think that it depends upon,

I would never say that it's a cooling down market. It again, because real estate is not just personal,

is also so hyper-local and it is so micro-local. And so when we're talking about greater Cincinnati,

I mean, to paint upon whether you're in Hamilton County or Butler County or Warren County,

the numbers are all on that level. Very, very can be very, very varied as it were. So for example,

Active Inventory in Hamilton County is less than 2%, whereas Active Inventory in Butler County is

at 13%. So, you know, it has increased. So I think that the question really is,

you know, are people still in the market? Yes. And is it active? Yes. Is it hot, hot, hot the way it was,

you know, 2021, 2022, 2023, even? No, I mean, it has begun to normalize very much so.

And are you seeing that too in Northern Kentucky? Absolutely. But still suffering a

deficient inventory level. So that's making you still have to move fast. And even things that have

been sitting on the market for some time, I always tell people don't wait. And nobody ever

listens. So don't wait. And things that have been sitting on the market for even five or six

months can go into multiple offers still. Seasonality has a lot to do with that. We've just come

through three straight months of frozen. So that had a big impact on our inventory and our

turnover and our buyer pool. But people were still out there looking and people were still out

there doing the interest rates dropped a little bit. So that gave people some incentive. Now

they're back up again a little bit. So we do have a caller on the line. Hi, Linda. Thanks for

calling. What's your question? Well, I'm just more comment. I keep receiving phone calls from

people asking if they'd like, I'd like to sell my home. The last time I finally said certainly,

I'll sell it for 1.5 million. And of course, they hung up on me. But I wonder if that has anything

to do with the shortage of homes on the market, the fact that we have external people

vying for or trying to convince people to sell. Yeah, I get those too. I have a I save all the

postcards I get. I have a special basket. That's a big basket now. People that own multiple

properties, especially investment properties with LLCs. That's a constant thing, especially with AI

there's people that sit in call centers in California. And that is all they do is call and try to

they're trying to create their own inventory wholesalers and house flippers. That is the way they do

it. They're trying to get a good deal. They're trying to get something below market value. Yeah.

And if you just if they're calling, should you just block them? Block them. Block them.

Well, you should block them, but I will have to say that there are some actual legitimate

real real estate agents who have been asked by their clients to find properties that may not be

for sale because they are very anxious to live in a certain place or they really like a certain

piece of property. And so those folks usually won't call because they don't want to violate

the no call list, but they will send a letter. And you know, if you get one like that, that actually

has a legitimate real estate brokerage name on the return envelope and all of that. And you know,

and there's some familiarity you have. You might want to open it because it might be actually a

legitimate inquiry. Yeah. Well, Linda, thanks very much for that call. I hope you get the 1.5

million dollars. That's great. It's a great strategy. We got an email from Rich who asks,

one of the guest commented about now having to do more negotiations like they used to before

COVID. What if any impact has the settlement in the last year or two regarding the Realtors

Association required or necessitated more negotiation between agents and buyers and sellers?

Is that had an impact? I don't think it's had the impact that they

wanted it to. And that that I'm glad for the question because of all of the

items that are negotiable that that item which is in the offer that a buyer makes that that

become the buyer agent fee is negotiating item. And the seller and the buyer have to come to

some agreement over that. And my experience is that in a few instances, there's disagreement,

but in many instances, there's not. Correct. Yeah. So we, I think talked about this maybe during

the break. There's been a lot of talk about the age of first time home buyers increasing. What

are you all seeing in that on that front? Well, what's interesting is that the profile of

buyers has changed and national association of Realtors do these studies and put out like profiles

of buyers and sellers. And the interesting thing is that the average age of home buyers has,

the first time home buyers has increased. And so now it's upper 30s, almost 40, the average age

of buyers. So these are folks who have bought and sold before is now pushing 60. Interesting.

It's very interesting. And then also what's interesting, particularly if you're a woman,

is that the percentage of single women who are purchasing has increased.

And first time buyers are down actually from 31% to 29% in 2025, really.

Well, so what is your outlook for the market locally? Are you still feeling pretty bullish?

I know you said the word cooling was a bad word to use. How are you feeling about it overall?

You know, the real estate market, if you look at it historically, always changes every day.

And if you've been in the profession and the work for any length of time,

you've been through all these changes. And so there are all sorts of factors that affect both

buyers and sellers. And they all make a difference. And so one day it's cooling, one day is hot,

but right now it's normalizing. And so that's what people have to realize is that sellers,

most of the time, are going to have to be more realistic. And then buyers also are going to

understand that it is still a seller's market. Being flexible and just knowing what's happening

day by day, really. And as realtors, that's what we do. Yeah. Well, this has been great. I've

been talking with Sibsy Klein, executive sales vice president, Roxanne Quals, and Comian Shupper

Realtors, executive sales vice president, Rebecca Weber. Thank you both so much for your time

today. Up next, how the national debt affects us all and what could be done about it. This is

Cincinnati edition.