Let’s look at real estate through two fields of vision.
Value: This is the one that gets the most attention since it is what impacts all of our personal balance sheets. Simply put, it sucks when the value for our homes go down. Price has been hyper-local, but in general, it is showing to be flat to slightly down with some (though not many) markets seeing price increases and some seeing steep decreases. Overall, in most markets, the homeowner (and buyer) is confused. We keep hearing things are bad in real estate but real estate values seem very (in general) resistant and doing okay. Which leads us to where they are not okay… units.
Units: This is the number of homes that are sold in a given year. Existing home closings declined (surprisingly) by 0.7% in January, when most thought it would see a gain coming out of the slower-than-normal winter months. Normally right about now we see inventory increasing which is great because we also see buyer demand increasing. But as of now, it seems like we might still have some inventory issues, perhaps explaining the value resilience we’re seeing.
So the net effect is this:
- Everything is hyper-local
- Inventory is still constrained
- Now, as always, you need a local expert to unpack what is happening in your local market and guide you through the process