Housing Market Predictions for the rest of 2024

Real Estate Market Predictions for 2024: When Will Home Prices Become Affordable Again?

The real estate market has been a hot topic of conversation for several years now. The pandemic, coupled with fluctuating mortgage rates and a tight housing inventory, has led to significant price increases across the U.S. As 2024 approaches, potential buyers and sellers are asking the million-dollar question: When will home prices become affordable again? Here, we break down the housing market predictions for 2024 and 2025, discuss the factors influencing home prices, and provide expert tips to navigate this competitive market.

The State of the Housing Market: A Cooling Period?

The housing market has yet to fully heat up this year, but changes are on the…

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NAR Settlement and Real Estate Industry Changes: What Homebuyers Need to Know About Commissions

Real Estate Commissions: What You Need to Know

I'm sure you're aware of the recent changes in how real estate transactions are handled in the United States. If you're planning to buy a home after August 17, 2024, it's crucial to understand these updates. There's a lot of misinformation circulating, so let's cut through the noise and dive into the facts. Understanding these changes could save you from paying unnecessary fees to a real estate agent.

The Old Way: Understanding Traditional Real Estate Commissions

In the past, when a home seller listed a property with a real estate agent, they could choose to offer a commission to a potential buyer's agent. This commission was displayed on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and visible on popular real…

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The NAR Settlement and It's Impact on the Real Estate Industry

The recent settlement between the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and several plaintiffs have significantly changed real estate practices, effective August 17, 2024. These changes aim to increase transparency and reduce potential conflicts of interest, reshaping how agent compensation and buyer agreements are handled across the industry.

Key updates include:

1. Compensation Changes: The most impactful change is the prohibition of listing brokers or sellers offering commission to buyer agents on Multiple Listing Services (MLS). This effectively ends the common practice where sellers paid both the listing agent and buyer’s agent commissions, leading to greater transaction clarity. MLS platforms will now remove any fields related to buyer-agent…

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Understanding the Current Real Estate Market: The Unseen Impact of Housing Shortages

The housing shortage is affecting some people and areas harder than others

In today's real estate market, an unexpected issue has emerged, one that is directly affecting a large segment of potential homebuyers. Despite a noticeable slowdown due to increasing mortgage rates, there's an undeniable shortage in the supply of homes for sale, a sharp contrast to the state of the market in 2019.

This housing shortage is affecting some segments more than others. In particular, homebuyers with an annual income around $100,000, slightly above the national average, are feeling the squeeze. Back in May, when the 30-year fixed mortgage rate was lingering in the high-6% range, these individuals could only afford houses priced around $341,000. Unfortunately,…

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An Overview of the Palm Beach County Real Estate Market: Q1 2023

Palm Beach County Real Estate Market

Palm Beach County, one of the most picturesque regions of Florida, is known for its year-round warm weather, beautiful beaches, upscale shopping districts, and dynamic real estate market. But how did the Palm Beach County real estate market fare in the first quarter of 2023? Let's take a deep dive to understand the trends, forces, and numbers that have shaped this market segment.

A Dynamic Start to the Year

Despite the turbulence experienced in the real estate market in 2022 due to global economic uncertainties, the Palm Beach County market showed remarkable resilience. Entering 2023, the market showed a robust start with median home prices and sales volumes continuing their upward trajectory.

The first…

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Interest Rate Increases And Their Effect on the South Florida Real Estate Market

The Federal Reserve intensified its fight against inflation in June by announcing the biggest interest rate increase in 28 years as the government's main lending institution tries to rein in skyrocketing consumer costs. 

The largest increase since 1994, the Fed increased its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point. That comes after increases of a quarter point in March and a half point in May. The increase is due to growing prices for rent, groceries, gasoline, and a variety of other goods and services. Higher interest rates will increase the cost of carrying a credit card bill, obtaining a vehicle loan, and purchasing a home.

Rate increases are anticipated to continue in the upcoming months. In general, Fed policymakers…

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Will Florida's Housing Market Cool Down or Crash?

Florida seemingly continues to operate in its own world—at least when it comes to real estate. While signs indicating slowing momentum are popping up more and more throughout the nation, six of the top 25 overvalued home markets are right in our backyard, and several new studies indicate a prolonged period of unaffordability.

Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, and the University of Alabama found that the current combination of high demand and low inventory that began at the start of the pandemic is likely to continue thanks in part to future population growth projections.

Which Florida Communities Are The Most Overvalued?

Of the six Sunshine State metro areas identified, Fort Myers topped the list. Typical buyers…

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Five Reasons We Won’t See A Housing Crash in 2022

It may be hard to believe, but the South Florida real estate market is quickly approaching the conclusion of its second full calendar year of record-shattering pace. Homes and condos are still selling nearly as quickly as they were at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and setting new highs along the way. 

With respect to Mr. Gordon Gekko, many real estate experts and economists—not to mention home buyers and sellers—aren’t convinced that all this greed is good. Headlines abound regarding a potential housing crash which would rival that of the late ‘00s. While it’s true that some cherry-picked data trends could cause concern, the fact of the matter is we find ourselves in a far different climate; one that could actually turn out positively for…

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Buy-Buy, Seller’s Market? South Florida’s Summer Housing Market Update

Though typically not a busy time in the South Florida market, the 2021 summer season has kept the momentum going from the beginning of this year. In fact, national statistics stemming from the week leading up to the 4th of July indicate that housing is still a hot commodity across the nation!

However, there were signs indicating some relief may be within sight, though buyers shouldn’t celebrate quite yet, as the data discrepancies could be attributed to the lead up to the holiday weekend.

Overall, the data demonstrates more of the same—fewer new listings, and historically high home price growth. Both of these aspects mean a tough environment for buyers without the ability to offer top dollar or make a quick purchase decision. However, there are…

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Spoiler Alert: There Is No Housing Bubble

As soon as housing prices seem to rise, two questions spring to mind—and into headlines:

“What’s MY home worth?”, followed immediately by “when will THIS housing bubble pop?”

With current median selling prices up nearly $35,000 compared to the same period last year, it’s the latter (along with still-fresh memories of last decade) that have some buyers waiting on the sidelines. However, while experts have no idea how far prices will run, they can seemingly agree on one thing: we aren’t actually in a bubble.

And those that wait will likely regret it.

This Is A Different Housing Market

Take it from none other than a Morgan Stanley strategist who shared in a note to clients that the bank had a “strong conviction that we are not experiencing…

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