2020 in Review and 2021 Expectations

Happy New Year!

As we close out the year, I want to provide an overview of the 2020 residential real estate market and provide my thoughts on 2021.

This past year was a big year for residential real estate with strong price growth and new home trends.

2020 Growth

Home sales saw tremendous growth this year as consumers took advantage of low-interest rates. Likewise, being forced to spend more time at home, the desire to have one’s space increased.

This growth was reflected both at a national level and in Atlanta.

From January through November 2020, home prices grew 19% nationally, compared to 5% in 2019.

In Atlanta, 2020, home prices rose 18% compared to 7% in 2019. This growth was impressive, given that we were already in a hot market.

Fewer people were selling, too, driving down supply. National supply in November 2020 was at 1.6 months compared to 3.1 months in November 2019.

In Atlanta, November 2020 supply was also at 1.6 months compared to 2.9 months in November 2019.

This shortage was reflected in how quickly homes were selling. Nationally, homes remained on the market for an average of 11 days in November, compared to 27 days in November 2019.

Atlanta was no different; homes remained on the market for 11 days in November, compared to 26 days in November 2019.

2020 Trends

2020 changed the way people shopped for homes and changed the priorities of what people looked for in homes.

Online home shopping accelerated as people toured homes virtually. Video conferencing was prioritized as agents walked clients through homes on video calls. As I have adapted to the changing markets, I now have the technology to provide even better services for clients hesitant to leave their homes. 

Another significant shift has been in the way we close, becoming more virtual with remote mortgage approval, inspections, and appraisals. 

Priorities also shifted. More people considered homes with dedicated office space, good outdoor access, and home gym or community gym access. This changed the way sellers prepared, staged, and listed their homes to sell.

Looking ahead to 2021

Due to low mortgage rates, we will continue to see a strong buyers market. Rates are forecasted to stay between 2.9%-3.4% for 2021. In the near term (Q1 2021), I expect 30 year fixed to remain around 2.7%.

With limited supply and high demand, I expect home prices to continue to rise over 2021, but not at the rate of 2020. Experts predict that more inventory will become available in the summer months as vaccines take hold and warm weather ensues.

I expect the same trends to continue to manifest in 2021. Buyers will be looking for more space. National Homebuilders Association expects an increase in median home size after a four year decline. 

Demand for green space and more defined floor plans will take hold as more people spend time in their homes with activities like working and exercising.

Overall I believe we will have another bullish year for home sales. It will be a good year for both buyers and sellers and a year to take advantage of low-interest rates.

Are you ready to buy or sell your home in 2021? Contact me, and I can walk you through everything you need to know to make a smart long-term decision.

Connected home

5 Smart Home Devices for Holiday Gifting

The pandemic has accelerated many things.  One acceleration that I’ve observed is the connected home.  With more people working from home and building out more at home “comforts”, I’ve been asked more about connected home devices.

This year, I’m writing my version of a holiday gift guide with my favorite connected home devices.

Continue reading
Mortgage Savings

How Much Could you Save With Current Low Interest Rates?

As you know, the housing market has been robust over the last six months. Redfin just reported that home prices had increased another 15% as of October 23rd, and 56% of its homes for sale went through bidding wars.

Much of this has to do with lower supply and higher demand, coupled with extremely low-interest rates.

So what should you do if you are in the market to buy? Should you wait and see prices level and supply increase? Or should you commit as prices continue to increase?

Continue reading

4 Tips For Getting the Home you Want

New home construction is on a terror surging 22.6% in July. 

Mortgage rates hit a record low in August of 2.88%.

If you are considering a new home, now is the time. Prices continue to rise back up to pre-pandemic levels and demand is rising with it, as seen with the surging new construction.

But right now we are in one of those rare moments where pricing is still leveling and interest rates are unbelievably low.

Carpe diem!

With that being said, here are my top four tips for getting the home you want right now?

Continue reading
Work from home

Will the Remote Work Trend Change the Residential Real Estate Landscape?

Like me, I’m sure most of you have been working from home during the pandemic. As cities begin to reopen I’m starting to assess how the big societal shifts that occurred will impact the residential real estate buyer and seller.

One shift that I believe will have an immediate impact going forward is the remote work trend, it seems to me that this trend is here to stay.

Below are my key takeaways on this trend going forward.

Continue reading
Virtual tour

How to be a Seller in the Current Market

As the current pandemic looms, parts of the economy are still moving. One of those is the real estate market. 

Buyers are still researching, viewing, and buying homes. However, given the uncertainty, fewer sellers are listing, which according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is creating a greater inventory shortage.

This puts savvy sellers in a good position because buyers are still looking and there’s less inventory so less selling competition. More importantly, according to the NAR, in a recent survey, 74% of agents reported that sellers have not been dropping prices.

I believe that, given the lower inventory,  if you’re a seller you have a good opportunity to cater to the buyers out there in need of the right property.

How do you cater to these buyers?

Below are some tips that can put you in a good selling position in today’s environment.

Increase screen appeal

As you know, things look different on camera, and with buyers now viewing homes virtually it’s important to stage your home properly to ensure the camera effectively captures the space and dimensions. 

On virtual tours, it’s extremely important to remove clutter so the space comes through clearly. 

Additionally, you’ll want to arrange the furniture to show the maximum space on video as well as accurately depicting the dimensions. 

I recommend taking some pictures as you’re staging your home so you can see what potential buyers will be seeing. 

I’ve been giving virtual tours with my properties and I always ensure the rooms look great on camera before any showings.

Highlight the “new premium” spaces in your listing

Coming out of the pandemic, I believe that buyers will start placing a premium on spaces that were sometimes overlooked in the past.  Here are three that I believe you should emphasize in your listing.

Home office space

I think the work from home trend is going to continue into the future. While I don’t think we’ll go to a complete work from home environment, I think more companies will start opening to the change, given the grand work from home experiment during the pandemic.

For this reason, a premium will be placed on home office space. So if you have space for a home office make sure it is emphasized. 

If you don’t have a dedicated room for an office, consider staging the home to showcase how the space you have could be utilized as a small workspace setup.

Home gym space

During the pandemic people have become more accustomed to working out at home, thus learning how to and becoming accustomed to at-home workouts. This puts a premium on home gym space. 

Do you have a nice gym in your condo or a nice dedicated space in your house with workout equipment? If so make sure it’s highlighted as buyers will be considering this as they are searching for homes.

Outdoor space

Personal outdoor space will also become even a greater premium. As people have become more and more restricted indoors personal green space and fresh air has become coveted. Do you have a terrace, patio, yard, balcony? If so, highlight it and stage it, this will be an advantage as buyers will start moving outdoor space up on the list of “must-haves”.

Are you considering selling your home virtually? Please contact me if you are in need of an agent to show you how to maximize the value of your home.

1 … 4 5 6 7 8 9