Post & Poll: Do You Plan to Purchase Real Estate in 2019?

This column is written by Marcus Correll, the Marketing Coordinator at RLAH Real Estate. He is not a licensed agent, nor intends to be portrayed as such, but he is entrenched in the industry helping approximately 200 agents with their marketing.

Ahhhhh… December, such a month of reflection. In addition to taking inventory of our current year’s goals, we segue into the outlook of what next year may bring.

For many, the momentous occasion of buying a home is on deck. Assuming that Santa can no longer afford to help you with the typical down payment for a place in the District, there are several other factors to consider; appreciation, interest rates, inventory, competition.

Housing forecasting predictions are just that — predictions and by no means fact. Let’s take a look at what some of the experts are saying and let us know at the end what you think your personal 2019 forecast might look like…

Realtor.com predicts:

• Look for rising mortgage rates
• Home prices expected to rise @ 2.2% national rate
• Mortgage rates to hit 5.5% by end of 2019
• Home sales decline by 2%
• Bottom Line: Higher rates and prices impacting potential buyers could forecast for a slower year.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) Lawrence Yun forecasts:

• Home prices will see a 4.7% growth in 2019
• Builders are adding about 1.2 million homes a year
• “No signs of a housing bubble, even though prices have been outpacing income for many years.”
• International trade war could stall economic growth, interest rates to rise and signal a recession.
• Bottom Line: “All indications are prices will keep moving higher, and buyers who wait risk missing out on wealth gains,” said Yun.

Zillow suggests:

• Prices are still rising, but the price growth is slowing down in some of the hottest markets.
• Zillow forecasts “annual home value growth to slow to 6.6 percent over the next year, compared with 8.3 percent over the past year”
• 14% of listings across the country had a price cut in June signaling market shift (in DC, 15.4% had price cuts)
• Home value growth is slowing in almost half of the 35 largest metropolitan areas
• Price cuts occur more frequently amongst high-priced homes

After seeing what some of the market leaders have said about 2019….