What Housing Market Slowdown?

Though the news is full of dire warnings about the housing market, real estate agents can feel secure moving forward as more buyers are expected to enter the market in the coming months. Even though the market may not bounce back to early 2018 levels, lowered interest rates are appealing to many buyers. Some markets are performing better than others, but the overall outlook is more favorable than it was?earlier this year. Here?s what you need to know.

Interest Rates & Declining Supply

Due to the slowing market, interest rates have been dropped quite low, below 4%. According to?realtor.com?rates have been as low as 3.75%. This is no small amount in a buyer?s eyes, saving them thousands over the life of their mortgage. Many buyers, especially those who are already homeowners, see this as an advantageous time to buy a new, larger home.

However, those buyers who are looking to enter the market may find they have limited options, as supply continues to decline. This is compounded as more millennials reach home-buying age and start to look for entry-level homes. Supply of these homes is lower than supply for those who are looking to upgrade their housing situation. Millennials still face the financial challenges that have pushed back their average first-time home-buying age.

For real estate agents, this often means it will take longer to find each client their new home, and it will cost that client more. Investing in ways to save time on each client, without reducing your quality of service, will benefit you moving forward.

Areas Where the Market is Hot

Some areas that were affected by the slow down are seeing a huge boost from lowered interest rates. For example, San Jose, San Francisco, and Seattle are all seeing increased sales and prices. Across the nation, the median home listing price reached an all-time high of $316,000. Your market may be heading for a busier season than you expect.

What to Expect Moving Forward

Still, some things have changed. Noticeably, few buyers are willing to enter bidding wars in the current climate. That being said, there should be many of these buyers.

?There?s still plenty of pent-up demand from years of underbuilding and more millennials coming of age,? says realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale. ?This year?s buyers seem a little more patient. They?re more willing to wait for a good property.?

For real estate agents, using strategies to save time wherever you can will help you take on fewer indecisive clients and keep your overall revenue up. Don?t just save time when looking for properties and bringing on new clients, try to save time with the transaction. Acuity National Real Estate Solutions can?help.

Work With Acuity National Real Estate Solutions

Acuity National Real Estate Solutions offers clients a 24-hour portal to access, upload, and download files at any time. Even as we continue to redefine what a?title agency?can be, Acuity National Real Estate Solutions is committed to staying true to its guiding principle: providing individualized service without sacrificing efficiency.

For more information, visit our?homepage?today.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CENSUS BUREAU?S NEW HOUSING REPORT

The U.S. Census Bureau has released its 2018 Characteristics of New Housing report, and it has literally everything real estate pros need to know about new single-family housing on the national and regional levels.
If it feels like construction is happening everywhere, that the sound of cranes and bulldozers is constantly drifting in your windows, here?s why: 2018 saw 840,000 single-family homes completed, the most since the end of the previous housing boom in 2007.
90 percent of those homes had three bedrooms or more, and 60 percent were between 1,800 to 2,999 square feet.
Of the 840,000 single family homes constructed last year, 783,000 had air conditioning, 306,000 had three or more bathrooms, 778,000 were framed in wood, 270,000 had a patio and a porch.

How are people buying homes?

Consistent with other years since 2009, 2018 saw 65 percent of sales financed using conventional loans. This is significantly lower than the 80 percent norm from 1999 until the end of the last boom. The difference has been made up since the crash by all-cash and FHA buyers

What about multi-family units?

In 2018, 345,000 multi-family units were completed, 44,000 of which were built specifically to be rentals. The number of rental-dedicated multi-family units has been on the rise since 2013, the first year the category was tracked.

What information can I find in the report?

Anything and everything, and beware: it?s extremely easy to get sucked into this report and spend an hour or more perusing the numbers.

You will find 2018 new housing numbers as well as the data going back to 1973 for:

  • Bathrooms
  • Bedrooms
  • Building material ? brick, stucco, vinyl, wood or other?
  • Construction Method
  • Fireplaces
  • Air-Conditioning
  • Laundry
  • Parking
  • Much more!

Here?s the complete report from the Census Bureau.

Experience the Acuity Difference

Acuity National Real Estate Solutions offers clients a 24-hour portal to access, upload, and download files at any time.
Even as we continue to redefine what a title agency can be, Acuity National Real Estate Solutions is committed to staying true to its guiding principle: providing individualized service without sacrificing efficiency.
For more information, visit our homepage today.