The State of Our Market

By Jenny Mateyoke

As your professional real estate advisor, I focus on client satisfaction. My business is about service and I am not happy until you are happy. My years in the business have provided me the experience to assist you with nearly every real estate need.

Home sales continue to surge in our area. Year-to-date, they are up 11%. That, in turn, increased home prices by 13% to the current median of $215,000. Sales activity would likely be higher; however, new listings haven’t been able to keep up with demand. In the last 24 hours, just 84 new listings hit the market, and 87 went under contract.

New home construction is also down due to the rising price of building materials and a lack of lots available for sale. Currently, the high cost of lumber is adding $15,000 to the price of a new home.

On the other hand, historically low interest rates and the aging millennial generation have accelerated home buying in our area. The median age of first-time homebuyers is 33. There are over 45 million people between the ages of 30 and 40 in the U.S. That is 3 million more than five years ago, and that will increase by two million more next year.

That growing group will contribute to the number of households in the U.S. During the pandemic, the number of households shrank as people doubled up and moved in with family. With more vaccinations and a recovering economy, the number of households is expected to increase by 2.5 million.

If you have any questions about real estate matters, please feel free to reach out to me.