Welcome to the July 2019 edition of How’s the Market? You know, we created this series in conjunction with Keeping Current Matters to keep you up to date on nationwide US market happenings and of course the conditions we’re all dealing with.
Steve and I were talking and realized that the reason behind the sluggish start was because even though 2018 started very strong, as we all remember, it died once the interest rates skyrocketed, which means with higher interest rates, fewer buyers were interested in finding their home. But now that we’re in the third quarter of 2019, I’ve got four quotes from major economists that you need to be aware of that are all saying that the rest of this year is going to be nothing like 2018.
Starting with Mark Fleming, who’s the Chief Economist at First American. Mark says with interest rates down, buyers are looking to buy now and not just first time home buyers. The move up buyer is also looking to sell their house and find their next dream home.
The Chief Economist of Realtor.com, Danielle Hale, has this to say. That the second half of the year is going to be very strong. We’re seeing lower mortgage rates and higher wages. People are wanting to live a comfortable life that matches their dream home lifestyle. People can now afford more home for their money compared to last year.
Ralph McLaughlin, the Deputy Chief Economist at CoreLogic had this to say. Transactions will be increasing because of the interest rates and buyers will take advantage of the growing housing inventory, which means more opportunity for you to help more buyers and sellers sell more property.
Then Sam Khater, the Chief Economist at Freddie Mac, foresees only good things happening in the very near future, both in prices and sales. Expect to be busy.
Wrapping this up, that’s four major economists all saying that the ship is going to sail really nicely over the next six months compared to this time last year. Let’s face it, we’re stronger and we can expect more growth and continued low mortgage rates, And even though we didn’t have an amazing start to the year, now is the opportunity to make up for lost ground. Work towards accomplishing your buyer’s wish of finding their dream home and helping sellers achieve their goals. You know that working now and focusing on helping your clients will help you finish 2019 strong and kickoff 2020 with a bang.
Let me know your thoughts, any questions in the comments below, and, always, thank you again for watching and we’ll see you again next month.