From a buyer’s point of view, 2021 was full of real estate horror stories including sight-unseen bidding wars and houses flying off the shelves for cash with no inspection.
If you managed to snag a new home in 2021, congrats! If you’re still looking to buy, you’re probably asking if buying a home in today’s market is a smart move and will anyone buy my home? Will a home purchased early in 2022 lose value, or will it continue to appreciate going forward?
Here at MarketPro, our business is homes. We study the market carefully, and we can tell you this: There is data pointing to a continued rise in home prices in 2022.
What we would like you to also factor in is that your home is more than an investment. This is where you spend a significant amount of time and a house has no value if it doesn’t fit your financial situation or lifestyle. Also, when we get into the data, these stats are going to be more applicable to move-in ready homes.
Keep all of that in mind and let’s take a look at what’s been happening:
Home prices were at record highs in 2021.
In 2021, everyone wanted to buy and home inventory was very low all across the country. This caused prices to hit a record high this past summer.
“Inventory trended downward throughout 2020 and into 2021 as demand for homes took off, driven by the Great Reshuffling, low interest rates, and a demographic surge of millennial and baby boomer home buyers. The combination of low supply and high demand pushed prices into new territory, reaching record-high 17.7% annual appreciation in August,” according to a September 2021 press release by Zillow.
You may still be asking who will buy my home?
Inventory is improving but the market is still hot.
As more people get ready to list their homes this winter, inventory will improve. But we’re not out of the woods yet! There are still more potential buyers than there are available homes, so competition will make home prices continue to rise. They’ll just rise at a more moderate pace.
To back this up, let’s take a look at what the experts have to say.
As you can see, none of the major experts are projecting depreciation in 2022. They all agree that home prices will continue to increase next year, although there’s a variance of opinion on specific numbers.
Danielle Hale from Realtor.com explains that “price growth is expected to move back toward a normal range, but this is on top of recent high prices… So prices will [still] hit new highs. The pace of price growth is going to slow notably…”
So, while the market is not as burning hot as last year, home prices are still increasing.
Brad Hunter of Hunter Housing Economics agrees; “the recent unsustainable rate of home price appreciation will slow sharply… home prices will not decline… but they will simply rise at a more sustainable pace.”
It’s still definitely a seller’s market, but things aren’t like they were last year.
“Along with the expected moderation of price appreciation in coming months, the market is beginning to shift toward a balance between buyers and sellers — although that middle ground is still a far ways off,” said Nicole Bachaud, economic data analyst at Zillow.
What does this mean for buyers?
While 2022 appreciation won’t be as extreme as 2021 appreciation, it appears that the market is not at a top and headed for a crash. That should give you some confidence as you prepare to buy a home.
MarketPro Homebuyers:
If you decide to sell your current home and invest in a new home, we can make the selling process easy and stress-free.
Let’s answer a few questions you may have:
Q: Will you buy my home as is?
A: Yes! You won’t have to make any repairs.
Q: Will you charge commissions or fees when you buy my home?
A: No! There are never agent commissions or fees when you work with MarketPro.
Q: When you buy my home can you help with my packing and moving?
A: Yes! We want to make the process as easy as possible for you and we’re happy to talk through how we can help.
If you’re in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, or Florida , contact us today for a no-obligation quote. We’ll help get you out of your home and into a new one.
