Your Hot-Off-the-Press Market Report

Montgomery County Real Estate Podcast with Diane Cardano

I’m back with a hot-off-the-press market. Here’s what you need to know. Our old friend Punxsutawney Phil has predicted six more weeks of winter. Phil doesn’t exactly have the best track record for predictions, and recently, we’ve experienced unusually warm weather. Just in case our four-legged, state-appointed meteorologist is wrong, you might want to consider getting started on spring cleaning early. Spring is fast approaching. We know this is the time of year that people want to start the home selling and buying process. “The pool of interested buyers at the end of the year significantly outweighed what was available for sale,” said Lawrence Yun about inventory last year. The biggest challenge we have is a lack of inventory at a time when we’ve had tremendous demand. There has been talk over the last couple of years that maybe Americans don’t believe in homeownership the way that they used to. New stats suggest that this isn’t true. As a matter of fact, The Wall Street Journal published an article this past week that said: “The US homeownership rate rose in 2017 for the first time in 13 years….The annual increase marks a crucial turning point because it comes after the federal government reined in bubble-era policies that encouraged banks to ease lending standards to boost homeownership. This time, what’s driving the market is a shift in favor of owning rather than renting.” “The number of homes for sale nationwide has declined on an annual basis for the past 35 months straight.” Homeownership was dropping, and, from what we’ve seen, there were economic reasons behind that. Last year, we can see that in each quarter, homeownership was on the increase. It seems that owning a home is still a part of the American Dream. Again, the biggest challenge we have is the low inventory. We don’t expect that much will relieve this current shortage. The number of homes for sale nationwide has declined on an annual basis for the past 35 months straight. If you’re thinking about selling or buying a home, according to Bill Banfield, vice president of capital markets at Quicken Loans: “Homeowners received the gift of added equity this holiday season. With several years of growth, owners may have more equity than they realize. Many consumers use the tax season at the beginning of the year to reevaluate their entire financial life. It also provides a good opportunity for them to consider how best to take advantage of their equity while mortgage interest rates and borrowing costs are still near record lows.” There you have it. If you’re selling this year, get on my “coming soon” listings website and have buyers waiting to pay you listing price or more. If you’re planning to sell, but just not this year, you’re invited to our next home seller seminar on April 17 at the Hilton Garden Inn. Here, I’ll give you great and strategic information on how to make more money and sell your home fast. To sign up for the seminar, visit http://www.homesellingsharks.com/. For any other questions, feel free to reach out to me. I would be happy to help you!