Housing Market Update March 2022
The housing market is still a strong seller’s market, with low inventory and high demand. There are only 500,000 homes for sale in the entire country, and only 1,713 homes listed in San Diego County as of the posting of this blog – a record low especially for this time of year as we head into Springtime. Inventory is only 1/3 the amount it was at the beginning of 2019.
On a positive note, homeowners have gained 30% equity in the past 12 months – this is incredible and provides opportunities like taking cash out to remodel and purchasing investment properties and paying down high interest debt, all before the federal rate hikes.
Here are some more interesting facts: compared to 2008 there is an 80% reduction in the supply of homes for sale. This clashes with the number of Americans residing in the U.S. who want to buy homes. The number of people in the U.S. in the 27-35 age group, a historically ripe age range for first time home buyers, has increased substantially – 9,000,000 more than in 2008.
On the west coast there are so many buyers that if half of them left the market today (which is obviously not likely), we would still have more than 2 buyers for every home that is listed.
To be prepared to get your offer accepted you need to have a plan. Make sure you are working with an experienced agent in the area you are shopping, get preapproved, have all your finances in order and ready for the lender, and strategize with your agent to present the strongest offer possible.
For more information on the San Diego County housing market please feel free to reach out to me.
* Statistics provided by CoreLogic and the San Diego MLS
