
Brewer Realty Group keeps a close eye on the market trends that affects their customers the most in Central Florida and the following information provided by the National Realtors Association as well as other sources tell us what seems obvious.... the real estate market is alive and well.
The U.S. housing market has staged a furious comeback this summer, even as the economy struggles to regain its footing after being knocked into a recession due to the coronavirus.
After stalling in the first few weeks of the pandemic, U.S. home sales have surged in recent months to the highest level in more than a decade.
The strength in housing has been driven by ultra-low mortgage rates, fierce competition for a chronically low inventory of properties on the market and a wave of millennials and others increasingly vying to become homeowners.
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes have risen three months in a row after slowing sharply in March, April and May. They climbed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6 million homes in August, the fastest pace since December 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Mortgage rates have been a key driver for the market. They’ve fallen this year to record lows, increasing buyers’ purchasing power. The average rate on a 30-year home loan was 2.90% last week, according to data from mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. A year ago, the rate averaged 3.64%.
Perhaps the biggest factor in the housing comeback, though, is the severe imbalance between supply and demand for homes. As of August, 1.49 million homes were on the market, a drop of 18.6% from a year earlier.
Economists expect the housing market will continue to strengthen, despite uncertainty about when the economy will recover from the pandemic.
More than 100 economists and real estate experts are forecasting home prices to increase 3.7% this year and continue growing in 2021, according to a recent survey sponsored by Zillow.
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Dan Brewer