Despite Real Estate Market Conditions It's Not All Doom & Gloom
Hello there. I am fresh off the plane from an amazing National Association of REALTORS® Conference in Sunny Orlando, Florida. In addition to networking with colleagues from around the world, I attended sessions from leading industry experts providing their insight into the current state of the housing market. While we continue to navigate the fallout from the rapidly escalating prices smashing into the equally rapidly escalating interest rates that crippled buying power and quelled demand, their thoughts about what to expect in the coming years was not all doom and gloom.
While, this is not a bubble, we are in a period of recalibration. According to Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist, 2021 saw an 8.5% increase in unit sales, a 17% increase in home prices and 25% in dollar volume. While 2023 will likely show a downward trend in sales, and dollar volume with miniscule price growth, 2024 looks more promising. Rates are expected to come down and we should be back to a more “normal” pace of home price growth. This mirror’s Matthew Gardner, Windermere's Chief Economist’s Top 10 Predictions for 2023, beginning with falling interest rates that will help spur a return to more normal price growth as buyers re-enter the market. The market will become more balanced eroding the edge sellers enjoyed for several years, though the lack of inventory will continue to be a challenge as many would be sellers refinanced into low rates and are not likely to give that up soon. Those who do wish to sell will need to ensure they price their home accurately. Since wage growth has not kept up with rises in home values, many buyers will continue to face an affordability challenge.
Consider this, the median home price in King County more than doubled in less than a decade. On this note, I was particularly pleased to hear Matthew Gardner call out the need for cities, counties and states to adjust their land use policies and for officials to consider creative incentives to inspire solutions, to address our missing middle housing crisis. As VP-Elect of Governmental & Public Affairs for Seattle King County REALTORS®, I'm excited it to be involved in initiatives to help address the mismatch between available housing stock and the type of housing people need, want, and can afford. The bottom line is despite market conditions, life continues to happen and people still need to buy and sell. I'm happy to help you with those decisions, while also contributing my time and efforts to influence positive change to build more diverse and sustainable communities.
Cheers and best wishes for a healthy Holiday Season to each and every one of you! I'll see you soon.
𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙩, 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚. 𝙄’𝙢 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥!
Call/text or email me anytime! ginam@windermere.com.
