Here’s your latest update on what’s going on in the real estate market.
We have never seen the Louisville and Southern Indiana real estate markets this hot before. Buyer activity is through the roof, in part because mortgage rates have jumped up enough to prompt buyers to jump off the fence.
Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, says that “Home sales continue to ascend in the first months of the year, as buyers quickly snatched up virtually every new listing coming on the market… Sales easily could have been 20% higher if there had been more inventory and more choices.”
Locally, the number of homes sold last month rose by 4.4%, but the number of homes going under contract was down by 14.6% compared to last year. New listings also dropped by 23.5% year over year. The big number everyone is concerned about is the number of active listings on the market, which were also down 51.6% over last year.
“Even if interest rates rose further, the market would still be hot due to our low inventory.”
On the other hand, home appreciation across the country has been impressive, having risen by 10.8% over last year, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The CoreLogic U.S. National Home Price and the S&P Case-Shiller Indices showed a 9.2% and 10.4% rate of appreciation, respectively.
Home prices around the country could go up by as much as 10.3% this year. Locally, appraisers keep our numbers lower, so here, there may only be a 4% increase.
The good news is that overall, consumers are reporting a more positive view of home-selling conditions, which means that many of you may be thinking about putting your homes on the market. If that’s the case, consider a reverse contingency. That’s where you accept an offer but reserve the right to find a home before the contingency is released. Reach out to us for more information about that option.
Note that interest rates continue to creep upward, but we expect that even if interest rates rose further, the market would still be hot due to our low inventory.
To round out today’s update, I spoke with home sellers Kathy and Tom about their experiences with us. They put their condo on the market two years ago and received some offers, but none that were what they wanted. This year, they put the condo on the market and it sold in just five days. The difference between their past experiences and their time with us was that we kept them informed about every showing, which hadn’t happened for them last time. Additionally, we also gave them access to marketing technologies they didn’t have, including drone photos of the exterior and professional interior photos.
If you’re thinking of selling your home, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Sokoler Team for assistance. We’d love to help you.
