Fed’s October Beige Book: Housing is Cooling

Here is what the Fed’s Beige book had to say about residential real estate:

“Prices began to level off in the First District’s residential real estate markets in August as higher mortgage rates cooled demand. While prices were up over-the-year (to August) in all reporting markets, those increases were substantially smaller than the over-the-year increases to July, except in the case of condo markets in Maine and New Hampshire, which had stable price growth. Inventory fell year-over-year in all reporting markets except for Boston’s single-family homes. Relative to the previous report, that fact translates to moderately lower inventories in all markets except Maine. Closed sales decreased over-the-year to August, albeit by somewhat smaller percentages than were reported in July. Contacts across the region remarked that buyer demand had cooled, shifting the negotiating power to buyers.”