February 2022 National Market Update
February 2022 National Housing Market Update
National Housing Market Update…so many questions
What’s happening with the national housing market? Where are mortgage rates? What’s going on with the fed? How is inflation? There are so many things to speculate on in today’s housing market. One of the biggest issues is that homeowners are not putting their homes on the market. According to Realtor.com, the national average number of homes on the market we saw from December 2020 to December 2021 was 27% down year over year.
Buyers are Out There and Ready to Buy
Even with how difficult it is to snag a home, it has not slowed down buyers. They are still out there making offers and trying to get into a home. According to the ShowingTime Monthly Index, the number of showings that happened in November of 2021 is greater than the number in November of 2020. The President of Showing Time says, and I quote, “Showings traditionally lag during the holiday season, but the data we’re seeing tells us that buyer demand remains strong. The fact that every region showed a year-over-year increase indicates that buyers are undeterred and it speaks to their desire to keep searching for their next home.” Buyers are out there, and they are ready to buy!
Home Values are Up Year Over Year
On a national average, homes have increased in value by 16.3% year over year, in Montgomery County home values increased by 11.2% from 2020. Having that much equity in your home can give you a lot of options as a homeowner. This uptick in value affects the overall housing and mortgage market in a good way. The equity growth has helped people get out of forbearance, which has finally dropped below 1 Million according to Black Knight.
Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, MBA, and NAR all project interest rates to rise steadily throughout 2022. Potentially as high as 4%. MacClare Bolton-Smith Senior Leader, Research and Content Strategist of CoreLogic says this. “We may see a little bit of an uptick in the foreclosure rate in 2022. Just an uptick though, from an extraordinarily low level, we’re not expecting to see big increases.” But the consensus is that 2022 holds a housing market that remains strong. She goes on to say “We expect delinquency rates overall on home mortgages to actually continue to remain quite low.”
Now is a Great Time to Sell AND Buy
So how does this relate to buyers and sellers? If you are thinking of selling, now may be one of the best times in recent history and if you are thinking of buying, now also may be one of the best times as interest rates are still historically low but projected to slowly rise over the coming year. Just know that inventory is also historically low so competition is still fierce for the homes that are on the market.
