The housing market is constantly fluctuating. Depending on where you live, it could fluctuate more than others. Plus, with the COVID pandemic, things have been extra turbulent.
House prices are at record levels and there are no signs of slowing down. This is due to several reasons.
In 2021, homes are staying on the market for a shorter period of time than ever before.
What does this all mean as we turn the page to 2022? Read on to find out.
Why Are House Prices so High?
As mentioned above, homes are spending less time on the market. That means prices won’t drop like they would if they spend a long time without being purchased.
Demand for homes is currently high and there’s not enough on the market to fit the demand. Therefore, prices have hit record levels.
Low-Interest Rates
Low-interest rates have added to demand. Investors are zeroing in on the real estate market. Through the first half of 2021, $77 billion was poured into the housing market.
Investors have moved from stocks and commodities to the less volatile real estate sector. For more info, visit mattsellshomesforfree.com.
Lumber
The cost of lumber has soured since the pandemic started. Lumber futures were at $400 before the pandemic started and hit their peak this past May at $1,650.
That number has since been cut in half. However, the lingering effects of the lumber shortage are still being felt in the housing market.
The cost of homes is up an extra $34,000 through this year because of lumber issues.
2022 Housing Market Predictions
Housing market predictions for 2022 are that costs will continue to rise. A recent uptick in COVID cases along with expected rising mortgage rates in 2022 will slow down the rising house price.
According to an economist at Zillow, we’re expected to see a lot of the same as this past year.
Housing market predictions for the first few months of 2022 are expected to be extremely high and then taper off in the middle of the year. Potentially coming back down to normal levels.
Unless inflation continues to outrun wages, demand for homes will remain strong. Also, due to inflation, the cost of rental properties is going up which stunts renters from saving money to put down on a house.
However, a 3.9% expected boost in wages is the highest since 2008. The boost might help people afford homes they couldn’t have last year.
There is one thing that might force prices to drop. If COVID finally gets corraled to enough of a point where people start to move back to big cities. But if cases start to rise again it could have the opposite effect.
The Housing Market in 2022
Several factors will go into house prices in 2022. All things point to house prices going up, especially in early 2022. There are some factors that may lead to things coming back down to normal, but that’s uncertain at best.
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