A New Year For Real Estate

2018 has been a great year for real estate in my area. This year was slightly lower than 2017 but still a solid year in my area. I want to take a few minutes to reflect on the market for 2018 and give you a few predictions for the 2019 Real Estate Market.

Before I get into all the information, I would like to say that 2018 has been a good year. I have had the opportunity to help many buyers, sellers and investors this year. If you are thinking about making a move 2019 will be a great year to do this.

If you are considering getting into real estate investing, I suggest you check out the Investor section of my website. You should also check out my book “Anyone Can Invest In Real Estate”. It is a condensed Real Estate Investing Guide, meaning you will be able to quickly get all the information you need to start or improve your investing career.

2018 Real Estate Market Review and 2019 Market Prediction

Sales

Going into the year 2018 we seen a steady growth in the real estate market. Three years in a row there was a slight increase in home sales in the residential market. Years 2015, 2016 and 2017 each went up about 2% from the previous years.

These increases helped to get us out of the real estate market crisis we were stuck in and it al helped to put homeowners in a place to be able to sell their homes for a profit. In 2011 to 2014 the market seen many homeowners lose their homes to foreclosure or short sales where they were unable to make any profit from the sale of their homes.

For the following three years we would see that slowing turning around. There were more buyers entering the market and therefore homeowners were able to sell their homes again. As more buyers entered the market home sales rose and we seen the market crisis slowly disappear.

Today we find ourselves closing out 2018 and looking forward to 2019. No one is worried about foreclosure and short sales anymore. We hardly ever see a foreclosure or short sale listing on the market today.

The real estate market did not have another year of increase this year though. Now I don’t think there is anything to worry about though. In 2018 we seen a 5% decrease in sales, but we are still above where we were three years ago.

There are a couple reasons for this, but I think the biggest reason for the decrease in number of sales is the lower number of homes listed for sale. It makes sense right, the lower number of homes listed for sale the lower number of homes that can be sold.

The numbers of homes listed for sale in 2018 was down 13% from 2017. The numbers of homes for sale has gone down about 10-13% each year for the last five years.

Real Estate is always a roller coaster, from month to month and year to year. If you look a real estate over time you will see that it slowly goes up for a while and then it slowly comes back down.

My 2019 Prediction – If we don’t see more homes listed for sale in 2019 then we will continue to see the number of home sales to decrease. We need more then just few percent increase in homes listed for sale to see any change in the number of home sales, a small change will leave us seeing the same slow decline in home sales.

Sale Price

Going into the year 2018 we seen a steady growth in Sale Prices of residential homes. Over the last five years the average sale price went up about 3-5% each year. From 2017 to 2018 we seen a 3.5% increase in the average sale price.

This steady increase is in direct correlation to the rock bottom prices from the real estate market crash. Prices were so low eight years ago and they have started very slowly coming up since then.

With prices going up and the number of homes being listed for sale going down 2018 was a sellers market. Homes were selling in a matter of hours, I personally wrote up a few deals within 24 hours of a home being listed. These were either full price or above asking price offers.

I was able to secure five offers on one of my listings in one day. All but one of the offers were at or above asking price. I was able to sell my listing for 11% above listing price. This was because of the limited number of homes for sale and the surplus of buyers on the market.

The Spring of 2019 will show us how the rest of the year will look. We need to see a huge increase of home listings hit the market. If we see enough homes hit the market, we can see the number of sales go up.

My 2019 Prediction – If we see a huge increase of home listings in the Spring the average sale price will more than likely level out. If we don’t see enough homes listed for sale in the Spring of 2019 than the average sale price will continue to increase.

I am excited for the 2019 Real Estate Market! It will be a great year for both buyers and sellers. I expect to see homes sell just as fast in 2019 as they did in 2018. I expect to see the average sale price to stay about the same in 2019 compared to 2018. I also expect the number of homes for sale to slightly increase in 2019.

Investing in Real Estate in 2019

2019 will also be a great year for investors! With the real estate market going up each year the rent prices also go up. Investor can make more revenue on a single family home with just the rent increase.

With the market doing so well there is also an increase in long time investors wanting to cash out on their properties. This will give investors more opportunities to buy good rental properties.

One side of investing that I don’t see getting any better in 2019 is the Fix and Flip business. Fix and Flip properties will be harder and harder to find. Investors are finding themselves having to pay more to purchase these properties, which leaves less profit for them.

I am not saying the Fix and Flip investors won’t make any money in 2019 but it will not be any easier. It will also be harder for new investors to get into the Fix and Flip market mainly because of the higher purchase prices and less inventory, but if you put the time and effort into it then you can make it happen.

Contact me for more information on how to be a successful Real Estate Investor.

Being a Realtor in 2019

As a Realtor I am excited for 2019. I expect to list more properties, sell more homes and make more money this year. The real estate market will be red hot this Spring and this is when real estate agents make the most money.

If you are thinking about being a Realtor then check out my Realtor section of my website. You will be able to learn all the benefits of becoming a Realtor and all the costs involved.

My office Nova Star Real Estate is looking to add more agents. If you are interested in being a Realtor or you want to switch companies for a better opportunity, then contact me today. There is time to get everything done before the Spring rush is here.