What is the Housing Market going to do in 2019?

With my crystal ball in hand and better yet Ryan Lundquist’s (One of the top appraisers in the Sacramento area) latest blog on his Real Estate Trends.   I am hoping to provide some insight to what we are seeing in the housing market at the beginning of 2019.

Some of the latest trends:

1. Affordability:  We have seen prices rise in both home sales and rentals over the past several years.  This has been felt all over California and in many other states as well. This has several effects on buyers and sellers, how much house a person can buy or rent, if buying or renting is the best option, if it is buyers or sellers market, and the thought process of buyers and sellers.
2. Financial Stability:  State of the nation, state of the financial indexes, state of interest pricing, and of course job/employment stability.   Our nation has been in a state of uncertainty, stocks, etc. have been rising and falling at pretty big margins, interest rates have been increasing, and in some areas job/employment stability is slipping slightly.  Where does this leave the consumers? People feel they are living with uncertainty and more skeptical of making large purchases or making big changes. It also raises uncertainty about the future.
3. Time of Year:  As we moved into the last quarter of the year we began to see housing prices slowing, less buyers out there looking, and questions in the housing market, if this is the usual seasonal slowdown or is it something bigger that we may see continuing longer than just the season.  That is the crystal ball question and quite frankly in a position of no one really knowing where or when we are headed for a change. Will it be up/down or just stay the same? It will take the next several months of results and trends to really understand what we are currently experiencing

With all this being said we have seen the slowing of prices in the last couple of months, most people feel it may go up or down a little, but stay about where it is for 2019.  I believe that is not a bad position as it is giving buyers a better opportunity to buy the home of their dreams and not making a huge dent in the profits sellers have been enjoying.  If the market stays pretty even that keeps us in and natural market meaning it just stays where we are currently.

One big announcement for the New Year is as of today interest rates are lower right now than they have been in the last year.  4.0 to 4.5 depending on your loan situation.

Bottom line is I believe that buyers should continue to look, and sellers should continue to entertain the idea of selling as this year looks like it may be the best time to do so for both.  If both win then you can look back on this year as a good opportunity for both ends of a sale.