Market Rant

 The real estate market over the past few years has been a rollercoaster, to say the least. Let’s take a trip back to the pandemic era—2020. At the start, everything froze. Contracts were withdrawn by buyers, sellers refused to let anyone into their houses, and everyone believed the market was going to collapse. Then the opposite happened. One of the craziest seller's markets ever witnessed occurred! Properties were selling for thousands more than the listed price, often with ten or more offers, and people were ignoring inspections as though that was a reasonable course of action! Then 2021 arrived, bringing with it more of the same craze mixed with supply chain problems that made fresh builds an aggravating process. Rising costs and first-time buyers? Yeah, best of luck. People who had been saving for years suddenly found they couldn’t compete with the all-cash offers from out-of-state buyers looking to escape major cities. Fast forward to 2022, and guess what? Interest rates shot up! Suddenly, affordability took a nosedive, and many buyers got priced out—not by the home prices themselves but by the monthly mortgage payments. Here we were still seeing sky-high prices with fewer people able to afford the same homes. Now in 2024, the market feels stuck in limbo. Prices are relentlessly high, there is still little inventory, and interest rates are not good for anyone. We are stuck in an odd situation where neither sellers nor buyers are willing to commit. This past summer, I got to experience this state of flux. Before I started my internship, I really didn’t know what to expect but it wasn’t this type of market. I could tell how stagnant things in the industry are and I am hoping the market revives itself before I officially get my license.