Real Estate Market Slows But Remains Hot

The real estate market in 2020 has proven to be fairly resilient. After the spring’s lockdowns were lifted we saw buyers resuming searches with sellers soon after beginning to list their homes on the market for sale. With home loan rates hovering at extreme lows market activity continues to be fueled as we watch home prices increase all summer and into early fall. 

As soon as the month of November hit then buyers and sellers took a bit of a break while coronavirus cases increased and the presidential election was upon us according to a report from Realtor.com. New listings dropped while the total number of homes for sale also saw a bit of a  decline with inventory below where it was last year at this time. This fewer number of available homes is powering buyers to compete with their offers. Per the report, this year homes were spending on average 13 fewer days active on the market than a year ago. 

As far as home values trend, listing prices have shown a steady pattern of increases by nearly 13% over last year. Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist states “With mortgage rates expected to rise on news of a likely vaccine, buyers may have reason to jump back in and find a home sooner rather than later, but sellers may be more inclined to stay on hold. Thus, even as overall activity slows, we may very well see continued price growth and quick sales.”

This year has been anything but normal with respect to any kind of usual market patterns. In many areas we do see typical slowdowns as fall hits around the holidays. This slowdown in the market, although perhaps a bit early, is often the case over several regions across the country at this time. Most often things resume to a faster pace after the first of the year which is just around the corner.