01/25/2022
Here’s what a crazy 2021 was like for buyers, sellers, and builders.
Looking to buy a home? Search all homes for sale
Looking to sell your home? Find out your home’s value
It’s been 29 years since I started my career in real estate, and 2021 still managed to be one of the most interesting years I’ve ever seen. Today I want to recap what happened in our market last year and explain things from a buyer’s, seller’s, and builder’s perspectives.
The first thing we need to talk about is low interest rates. Despite some grumblings in 2020, they remained extremely low throughout 2021. For most of the year, they were below 3%, and this sparked a ton of buyer demand. Bidding wars became common because every buyer wanted to take advantage of great rates. Prices were skyrocketing, but if a buyer was lucky enough to win a bidding war last year, they probably locked in a fantastic mortgage.
Early signs are showing our market may normalize in 2022.
”
For sellers, 2021 was nothing but good news. Prices increased throughout the year, and it doesn’t look like things will change too much in 2022. While the rate of growth may decrease, our low supply and high demand probably mean we’ll be in a seller’s market for a while longer.
Meanwhile, 2021 was a weird year for builders. Most builders had plenty of contracts for 2021; the issue was getting affordable supplies. The cost to build homes went up significantly, causing some builders to back out of contracts and risk legal liability. Things have settled down since the beginning of the year, and builders are racing to meet high buyer demand.
2021 was a wacky year, but it’s in the past now. My hope is that the market begins to normalize in 2022, and early signs are showing that it might. In the meantime, if you have any questions about today’s topic or anything else related to real estate, please call or email me or my team. We’d love to help!