Expect Home Prices to 🚀

Last month, Zillow predicted a +3.5% rise in U.S. home prices over the next year, but guess what? They've just bumped it up to +4.2% for Jan 2024 - Jan 2025. 📈

Here's the scoop from Zillow's senior economist, Orphe Divounguy: While housing affordability is still a challenge, the end of last year saw a dip in mortgage rates, bringing buyers and sellers back into the game. 🏡 Listings are up by 6% and home sales are up 3% compared to last year, signaling a lively spring ahead. 🌸

Here in central Ohio, closings were up 2.8% in January and the median price increased 8.9% 🤯 Five years ago, the median sales price was $181,500 and now it's $286,098!

But, we're still in a seller's market. With "months of supply" under 6 months, expect continued pressure on existing home prices. Builders are stepping in, offering rate buy-downs to attract buyers. 🔨

• Buyers: Act fast! The market's competitive, but builder incentives could sweeten the deal. 🏃‍♂️💨

• Sellers: It's a great time to list, with prices on the rise and tight supply. 📊

• Builders: Keep an eye on builder deals to guide clients to good opportunities. 🛠️

• Market Insights: Use these trends to advise your clients like a pro. 🌟

Last week was a bore outside of Nvidia continuing to crush market expectations. This week has a few more mortgage-related items on the calendar that we’ll be watching like hawks. Remember, PCE is the Fed’s preferred inflation metric. PCE is broader in scope while CPI typically only includes data mostly from folks that live in cities.

We get asked about guidelines specific to different loan types all the time. Why not put all that information into a one-pager that our realtor partners can have on hand with them at all times?

Click the button below to get your hands on another SUPER valuable piece of information that will help you in a pinch. How much can a buyer receive in seller credits on a particular home? Are gift funds allowed? What’s the down payment requirements on a second home purchase?

We answer all of those and MORE! Our goal is to consistently provide as much value for our partners as possible.

Print this off, heck, print off 5 copies if you want. Put them in your glove box, your center console, your buyer consultation packets, everywhere! Distribute to your teams, too!