Real Estate Market

I am hearing a lot of different things about the real estate market, predicted crashes, opinions etc. What do you all think about the housing market and where we are headed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic? Is now the time to buy or will prices continue to drop? Inventory is low and prices are still fairly stable at the moment so its hard to decide what the best move should be.

 

So funny you posted this my wife and I are actively planning to make a move although we dont know which one. We turned our first home into rental 3 years ago by just saving up money to buy what is now our current home and plans were we would do that same thing with this home. We would save up (which we have) buy another and turn this one into a rental. The market is weird and has me questioning because its EXTREMELY HIGH. Makes me want to sell this home and take the equity and run but I feel like its superficial. I do think the market is going to drop dramatically because with people losing jobs and the cost of living here in California being so expensive I think there will be alot of panic moves. This morning we actually decided not to sell and we are sticking with our original plan betting on the market dropping dramatically and landing a really nice house for a great deal given whats going on.

To make it short I do think the market is headed for a low/drop simply because it has too. With all these people selling due to job loss or panic the inventory has to go up thus the price has to go down. I dont see how with a job crisis prices could stay where they are.

 

I am in a similar position. My wife and I sold while the market was hot last summer and made a good chunk off of our house. We are currently looking for a new house and just aren't sure what the right move is. Take advantage of low interest rates and buy now or wait for prices to drop and run the risk that rates will rise. I foresee home rentals being a solid investment after all the forbearance stuff works out. People who lost there jobs will be forced to cash in on what equity they have and sell. They are going to be needing a place to live. Not to mention with teleworking on the rise, peoples apartments and condos in town aren't going to seem so practical when they have no compute to work.

 

I agree this thing is going to bring so many different angles of difficulty that the 2008-2009 bubble did not. I do not see how it will remain unfazed through it. I dont see how any way around it not taking a major dip. Hopefully rates remain low in a historical sense because I would imagine if they rose it would be another dagger driven into the side of buyers thus forcing the market down even further.

 

Interested in hearing more opinions as well. Subscribed.

 

I just locked in today for a 2.99% on a 30 year too good to pass up for a 30

 

location location location..lol..if the market was hot it's not gonna drop much and will restart like crazy.
interest rates are super low however they are very strict on lending so you might have qualified before but not anymore. we refi at 3.25 30 years and hopign to close next week. Took almost 45 days for a refi ! tough to time it at the best rate and also qualify for the loan ( they ask for paychecks multiple times during the process to make sure you have not been laid off etc..)

Always difficult to time the market. If you can buy now and find what you want, go for it because 3 months from now, everything will be different. rates might be lower/higher, market might be up/down and you might have or not a job. my 0.02.

 

like everyone else has said it all really depends where you live. Being in Socal prices arent waivering and people are still buying at top dollar. Homes are few and far between here making them hard to find and multiple offers are still being dropped on a home when they go up. Small inventory and zipcode play a big role like it always has.

 

Same in Austin, nothing drops, hasn't since the mid 80s, its always up, up, up. Even during the 07-09 recession thing, no price drops here. Too much high tech, over 7000 companies in high tech alone, no way that bottom drops out unless its announced another 6 mile wide asteroid is headed straight for us...

 

Just refied as well 3% on 30 years we’re south of Tallahassee on Apalachee bay and lots are moving pretty well on canals and basin getting hard to come by.

 

My wife and I just sold our house for a substantial profit and we decided to rent something for a year while we see what happens with the economy. I didn't want to buy at what could be the equivalent of a pre-08 peak. Having said that, my wife works for a title company and April was their best month in company history. I'm sure the extremely low rates are still convincing people to buy. I suspect rates will stay low for a long time as the fed will be too scared to raise them.

None of use really know what will happen though. I do hope prices drop some because they were climbing at a rate that wasn't sustainable.

 

depends on your local market. nothing here on the beach is dropping in value. they are still clearing land and building like crazy.

 

I think prices are going to drop. I'm no economist but I am a home loan officer; appraisals have been coming in lower than expected recently.
My personal prediction is this: our economy won't be the same for a very long time. This was a wake up call for a lot of people. People are going to start saving and buying less (this is actually happening right now) . Companies are going to realize they can do the same with less. Those furloughed with pay right now will eventually be let go permanently.

People will find lower paying jobs and will no longer be able to afford the inflated price/mortgage of their home.
Eventually the mortgage forbearance stops, foreclosures will start and the market will be flooded with inventory. New construction slows, more layoffs.....rinse and repeat.

 

I agree 100% with @19TurdPro

Unemployment will always drive housing prices inversely.

BUT we have another issue on the horizon. The fed is printing money at an alarming rate. That is the crisis that people should really be scared of. The future economic ramifications of all this money printing and borrowing will affect every person in the country forever. I don’t see how interest rates don’t skyrocket in next couple of years. Interest rates have been far too low for far too long, cheap money has driven up housing prices dramatically.

I think it will vary geographically a lot, I would bet smaller drops in prices in states like Florida and Texas (although oil prices could change that), and much larger prices in states that are extending lockdowns indefinitely (trying to say that in a non political way). I live in CA, our housing prices were almost back at 2007 levels, total bubble. The market was at a standstill before covid-19, it’s gonna go down sharply here I predict

 

Reviving this thread now that its a month later and it seems like the market is actually doing the opposite of what most thought would happen. At least for my city (Corona, CA) prices are increasing and inventory is so low its nuts. Any decent house that pops up on the market gets tons of same day offers over asking...... Has the wife and I thinking of listing instead of renting and jumping up in house. Hows everyone else's local markets doing?

 

Ours still seems to have a lot of houses for sale that aren't moving but most of them seem to me to be overpriced.

 

yep..SoCal market is burning. low APRs plus people been waiting to go visit homes and now you got 3 or 4 months worth of new buyers getting on the market. Home prices up, inventory low. sellers market right now around me. homes selling above asking price.

 

My dad is a realtor here in southern MN. And in fact we are currently browsing the market to for our first home. I guess this week he has sold two houses that were listed and sold the same day over asking. He said that is pretty crazy. At the start of all of this I guess things were very slow and not a lot moving. Wife and I live in a pretty expensive suburb and the prices seem to be the same but going fast. He is thinking things might balance out a bit in the fall and the interest rates will be pretty low but who knows. All I know I don’t feel comfortable buying a house and knowing it probably won’t be worth that much in a few years and the seller just made bank but no one can predict the market.

 

Its crazy here, Outer Banks NC. All time record of homes under contract. Things getting snapped up for asking price or more. Super short time on market etc. And sure there are some dumpy overpriced houses that sit but anything decent is going quick.

Full on sellers market.

 

In my area prices have risen steadily since January

Too many people need housing,and there’s a lack of availability

 

When things go so fast, to me, that means the market is inflated. If you don’t have to buy now, I wouldn’t.

Yes, interest rates are low, but they have been for a while. It’s mostly an inverse relationship. Rates go up, prices go down. It’s not always proportionally though.

I agree with @Hbjeff. There’s a housing bubble burst coming at some point. It has to. Many signs point to it.

 

The market here is staying steady. It’s an odd mix of price drops and houses selling the day they are listed. Inventory is super low and values are still a little inflated. There has definitely been an uptick in rural property sales which sucks for me since that’s what I’m looking for. We’ll see what happens in the next couple months. I was hoping to be in a new house by Christmas.

 

Funny - read this thread and then look at the dates.

2020 - everyone was calling a bubble and a bust on the horizon ! Now look at the price of a home in your area pre pandemic and what it is today in the “beaten down” market. I suspect most any market you would be up 20% plus still - certain markets even more.

 

The price rise from 2020-current was due to irresponsible fiscal/monetary policy by multiple govts printing/spending cash like drunken sailors


Its just like in 2008-2011. The stock market bubble should have crashed hard. Instead the fed conspired with the asset class to print money and inflate it away, kicking the can down the road