Housing inventory is up, what about the rest of the market?
In the latest report from Altos Research, the total inventory of single-family homes for sale in the U.S. has continued to increase. Buyers in the market now have more options available now than at any time in the past year. Inventory is also growing faster now than they did last year and has yet to peak. That’s the good news.
Also, more sales contracts were started this past week than at the same time a year ago. When it comes to withdrawals, we’re actually seeing fewer this year than last year. This is also good news.
Price cuts in existing homes for sale have also started to pick up their pace. 37.5% of homes currently on the market have undergone a price cut.
When it comes to prices, the active market has started to see prices cool off, and there is no sign of an imminent crash in the data. Historically, home prices have cooled in the fall and winter, and that trend appears to be holding steady in the current market conditions.
What are economists saying about the housing market?
In a recent article from Yahoo! Finance, economists from Bank of America were surveyed on current market conditions. The key takeaway is that current conditions are nowhere near the housing crash of 2008. The current conditions are more like the housing market in the 1980s than the 2000s.
In 2008, builders couldn’t get houses built fast enough and mortgages were a lot easier to qualify for. Homebuilders have dialed back significantly, and there are now higher standards in the mortgage industry than there were prior to 2008.
According to economists, this market is much closer to 1980 in which the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to combat high prices, and indirectly caused mortgage rates to increase. That sounds almost exactly like the situation today, except the 1980s didn’t have a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic that caused housing prices to spike.
The key takeaway from the economists surveyed was that while the market may be a challenge, it’s far from the situation in 2008, and should start to soften once the Fed is able to tame inflation and bring price stability back to the market.
What does modern living cost in New Jersey?
A four-bedroom contemporary home located in Montgomery, NJ has recently hit the market. Named “Atrium on the Brook”, the home was originally designed by William Thompson in 1964 and has been completely redone with a very modern flair.
The comes with a glass-enclosed atrium that houses an in-ground pool and hot tub. It also features a modern kitchen with custom cabinets, stone and metal sculptures through out the 2.3 manicured acres, and 7,227 sq. ft. of living space.
The price tag? Only $1.7 million.
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