The continuing rise of homes in the country’s top metropolitan areas are forcing homebuyers to look at cheaper options. Midsize cities in the South and Midwest offer the biggest bang for your buck.  Cities like Chattanooga, Tennessee; Columbia, South Carolina; El Paso, Texas and Louisville, Kentucky could soon be some of the hottest housing markets as home prices there are expected to climb. This according to Realtor.com’s 2023 housing forecast and economic overview.  The real estate listing firm also expects to see prices rise in places like Toledo, Ohio and Buffalo, New York, as bu ..read more

For the tenth consecutive month, existing-home sales have dropped according to the National Association of Realtors. The data for Existing-Home Sales for November was released at the end of December. December’s report will be released at the end of January. All four regions in the U.S. saw month-over-month decreases.  The four regions also recorded year-over-year declines in transactions. Single family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops saw a 7.7% sip in completed homes sales from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million in November. Year-over-year sales dropped ..read more

4.78 million existing homes will be sold, prices will remain stable and Atlanta will be the top market to watch in 2023 and beyond. All this according to forecasts by the National Association of Realtors. NAR’s Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors chief economist and senior vice president of research, unveiled the predictions at NAR’s annual year-end Real Estate Forecast Summit last month. Among the predictions were that home sales will decline by 6.8% compared to last year (5.13 million) and the median home price will reach $385,800 compared to 2022’s $384,500. That is just an i ..read more

North Carolina law requires all counties to conduct a property revaluation at least every eight years to determine its market value. These new values are being sent out by the county to all property owners now because Mecklenburg County has advanced its cycle for appraisers to conduct the valuation every four years. According to Assistant Assessor Brad Fowler, Mecklenburg County shorted the cycle to ensure property values stay close to the current market and help keep the public better educated about the process.  The Assessor’s office has spent two years determining the market value of a ..read more

The U.S. is seeing it’s second biggest home price correction of the post-WWII era with 55% of Americans saying they cannot afford to buy their home in today’s market, according to the CATO Institute 2022 Housing Affordability National Survey. Mitch Roschelle, Macro Trends Advisors founding partner, told Fox News he attributes the huge correction to American’s uneasiness regarding the markets and the economy. He said that the “shoe to drop” would be seeing a rise in unemployment that may cause a “leg down” in the real estate market. “A couple of things are going to cause it to turn in the oppos ..read more

According to the Knock Buyer-Seller Market Index released this month, the housing market appears to be moving further in the direction of favoring buyers. This as markets that cooled the fastest in response to the quickly rising interest rates and home prices continued to lessen. Meanwhile many strongholds show no sign of slowing with some expected to gain momentum in 2023. For the first time since July 2020, the index showed the housing market entered neutral territory. All but the Fayetteville, North Carolina market have moved towards favoring buyers over the last year. Last month, 51 market ..read more

A new report released this month by UNC Charlotte’s Childress Klein Center for Real Estate (CKCRE), the Charlotte housing market is showing signs of softening but it’s becoming difficult to find homes that are priced affordably.  The “2022 State of Housing in Charlotte” report, says home buyers and renters in the eight-county region are entering a second year of high prices and a lack of affordable housing. According to the report, only 25% of the houses are sold for under $300,000 while 3.8% of the houses sold for half that price.  “In particular, the prices at the lower end of the ..read more

After the most competitive period in recent memory, the housing market is rebalancing. The cooling trend that has taken the market by storm is expected to continue seeing more price declines in more cities according to a Knock Buyer-Seller Market Index report released today.  The index analyzes key housing market metrics to measure whether the country’s 100 largest markets favor buyers or sellers. Last month, the index found that home prices in 98 of 100 were below their peak price from last spring. The markets in Providence, Rhode Island and Salisbury, Maryland were the only markets wher ..read more

According to the latest RE/MAX National Housing Report, home sellers accepted offers below their listing prices on average based on data from August. This is further indication of the housing market rebalancing which is a source of relief for prospective homebuyers who have faced an incredibly competitive market. Out of the report’s 51 metro areas, the average close-to-list price ratio was 99% in August. This means that homes sold for 1% less than the asking price. This is down from 101% in July and 104% in April.  “Patient buyers were rewarded in August, as prices softened from July. Sal ..read more

At a Federal Open Market Committee press conference in September, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell was asked to clarify what he meant when he said the U.S. housing market would “reset.” He answered: “We’ve entered into a ‘difficult correction’ that will see the U.S. housing market transition to a more “balanced” market for buyers and sellers alike.” With that said, he still hasn’t addressed if home prices will fall. However at the University of Kentucky this week, Fed Governor Christopher Waller told the audience it’s possible we could see a drop in prices.  “While this [housing] marke ..read more