Last week I wrote about how Labor Day usually marks a turning point in the real estate market.

Summer vacations end. Kids are back in school. People get back into their normal routines.

And sellers who spent the summer saying, “We’ll wait until after Labor Day,” finally start putting their homes on the market.

Well...here we go.

In August, 573 homes were listed for sale in Delaware County.

That works out to an average of about 18.5 new listings per day.

Yesterday, September 8th, 51 properties were entered into the MLS as either Active or Coming Soon.

That's nearly 3x the daily pace we saw in August.

Now, that's one day.

I'm not going to take a single day of MLS activity and tell you that DELCO suddenly has a ton of inventory.

We don't.

But 51 new listings in one day is noticeable, and it lines up with what we typically expect this time of year.

A lot of sellers were waiting.

Waiting for vacations to end.

Waiting for the kids to go back to school.

Waiting for Labor Day to pass.

Now we're starting to see those homes hit the market.

What does that mean for buyers?

If you've spent the summer frustrated by the lack of options, pay attention over the next few weeks.

More sellers entering the market means more houses to choose from.

That doesn't necessarily mean prices are suddenly dropping or that every buyer is going to have negotiating leverage.

But having more options is a good place to start.

If you've been waiting for the right house, this next stretch between Labor Day and Thanksgiving could bring opportunities that simply weren't available during the summer.

What does it mean for sellers?

There's another side to this.

More inventory also means more competition.

If you're planning to sell this fall, you're not only competing against the homes that have been sitting on the market.

You're competing against the new listings hitting every day.

That makes pricing, preparation and presentation even more important.

Buyers having more choices isn't necessarily a bad thing for sellers. There are still serious buyers in the market trying to make a move before the end of the year.

But when buyers have choices, you have to give them a reason to choose your house.

The fall market is here

One busy day doesn't tell us what the next 10 weeks will look like.

But it certainly looks like the post-Labor Day shift has begun.

Buyers may finally start seeing more options.

Sellers should expect more competition.

And between now and Thanksgiving, I'll be watching closely to see where inventory, buyer activity and the overall DELCO market go from here.