I’m excited for 2020, and after today’s market report, you will be too.
Despite last year’s doom-and-gloom predictions about where the economy was headed in 2020, economists are changing their views, and the news is good.
According to George Ratiu, Senior Economist at Realtor.com, “Housing remains a solid foundation for the U.S. economy going into 2020.” Raving fans, the housing market is so strong that it’s actually preventing the recession from taking place. As you can see at 0:42 in the video above, the NAR, the Mortgage Bankers Association, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac all predict more homes will sell in 2020 than 2019.
So if you couple this year’s increase in sales with the new projections, it adds up to a very good 2020. Freddie Mac has contributed to this optimism by stating, “We expect mortgage rates to remain low over the next two years, averaging 3.8% in 2020 and 2021.” As a matter of fact, some experts predict rates will drop below 3.5% for the next two years, and that will continue to drive the market.
Everything looks like it’s heading in the right direction. Interest rates are down, and homebuyers really want to buy and take advantage of these rates. That’s a sweet and sassy recipe for lots of home sales.
However, there is one challenge, and that’s your home going on the market. In other words, we have low inventory. The latest numbers for the month’s supply of inventory have decreased both year over year and month over month. An average market has about six months of inventory, but we’re at 3.7 months, and that number might continue to fall.
As you recall, last month we talked about the winter slowdown of home listings due to sellers’ belief that there aren’t a lot of buyers out there. That’s not the case for 2020, though.
“Housing remains a solid foundation for the U.S. economy.”
To quote George Ratiu once more: “As millennials embrace homeownership and take advantage of this year’s unexpectedly low mortgage rates, demand is outstripping supply, causing inventory to vanish…The issue is further compounded by the fact that sellers tend to be more reluctant to list during the colder time of year when the market typically makes a seasonal slowdown.”
So more buyers are entering the market earlier each year. As a listing expert, I’ve been having my home sellers start the selling process as early in the year as possible these past few years. I’ve also emphasized doing this in all my blog posts the past couple of months, and studies have confirmed what I’ve been saying.
According to a study by Move.com, people have begun their home search earlier each year since 2015. This study also found that January 2019 fell just 1% behind February for the highest number of views per listing, and in 20% of the large markets, January saw the highest number of listing views in 2019.
If you’re waiting for the spring market to sell your home, you’re waiting too long. Don’t wait for your competition to enter the market. Buyers are out there right now. At 4:22, you can see that ShowingTime’s latest report shows that every region of the country saw a huge annual increase in buyer’s scheduling appointments.
I’m very excited for 2020, so if you’re thinking of selling shortly, give me a call as soon as possible so I can help you beat the competition. If you plan on selling later on, it’s always good to learn more about my advanced real estate planning strategy, which includes advice on how to fight the “home selling sharks” who eat away at your home’s value.
You’re also invited to attend my next Home Selling Sharks Seminar on April 4. To register and learn more details, just visit homesharkseminar.com or call (215) 576-8666.
If you have any other real estate questions, feel free to call or email me as well. In the meantime, stay tuned for my next video blog, where I’ll show you how I sold a home for $60,000 over its market value by using my expert marketing strategies.
