Planning to buy in 2020? Are you considering selling? Median home prices hit a record high in 2019 … up to $316,000. Now here we are staring down the face of 2020. What will the housing trends be in this New Year? What can we expect?
The most interesting nationwide trend is that more people are moving inland away from the coasts. It seems homebuyers have had enough of the pricing in the traditional hot markets along the coasts. Perhaps surprisingly though they aren’t headed for the big city. In fact, they are headed to smaller towns and mid-size cities. A recent report from Realtor.com cited in Marketwatch listed the top 25 cities with the most notable home sales. Number 1 is Boise Idaho. Other cities that made that list are Chattanooga TN. Raleigh NC and Cleveland OH are also on the list.
Charlotte has definitely seen and continues to see transients moving from higher priced markets to Charlotte. Interestingly enough, Charlotte didn’t make that list. Why? Well it’s because the Charlotte market has stayed steady. Charlotte is predicted to stay on a steady incline in housing prices.
Another nationwide trend will be Millennials actually wanting to buy a home. In one recent report Millennials rank home ownership higher than marrying or having kids. Data from realtor.com shows Millennials made up 46% of all new mortgages in September. That’s a huge jump from the year before and signifies a real shift in the buying demographic. Baby Boomers on the other hand are less likely to want to sell.
It will remain a great time to buy nationwide because interest rates are predicted to stay low. Right now Mortgage rates are around 3.75%, according to recent numbers from Freddie Mac.
Fannie Mae predicts rates will actually go even lower… fluctuating between 3.5% and 3.6 during 2020.
Charlotte’s already suffering through an affordable housing crisis and it doesn’t appear prices are going down in the near future.
We’ve become the 16th most populous city in the nation. Charlotte has grown 18.6% from 2010- 2018 3x the national growth rate. According to Zillow housing prices are due to grow 6.1% over next 12 months. That’s why some experts predict if you are looking for a starter home, you likely won’t find starter home prices.
Two other trends to keep an eye on… the electronic version of a real estate broker trying to replace actual real estate brokers and the sneaky trend of hedge fund and corporation buyers nabbing houses for cash. The latter issue is something we see and feel on the ground level. Just something to be aware of for both buyer’s and sellers.
The good news is that most economists don’t predict a real estate crash in the near future. They are more concerned with tariffs and trade wars and the impact they might have.
We are betting on more jobs, more spending and a strong market in the housing market for 2020.