Market Update February 2021

Hello Grand Rapids!

We want to keep you up to date on what is happening in our local Real Estate market. According to Forbes “Grand Rapids is one of the fastest-growing cities in the Midwest and has a housing market that’s been taking off recently.” We currently have a little over 400 homes for sale. According to InfoSparks, we have .5 months of inventory. That means if no more houses came on the market we would be out of inventory in about 2 weeks. Home prices continue to climb because of this low inventory.

CoreLogic’s Chief Economist Predicts that for the Real Estate Market in the U.S. in 2021 we will continue to have low-interest rates, there will be more first-time home buyers entering the market and home prices will continue to go up but not as quickly as we’ve seen recently.

What is Corelogic and why are his predictions important to consider? CoreLogic is a leading provider to the government and is in the business of analytics of financial and property data. Interest rates are at record lows right now and Corelogic believes the federal Reserve will continue to promote low-interest rates throughout 2021. Right now fixed-rate 30-year mortgages are averaging about 2.7% nationwide, which is a record low.  He also predicts these low-interest rate levels will go into 2022.

Corelogic predicts that there will be more first-time home buyers entering the market. It’s an easier transition to enter the housing market, because of the lower rates that make a buyer’s monthly payment significantly less. So much so, that oftentimes mortgages are lower than what a monthly rental payment would be. 

We trust Corelogic because they base their predictions on data and analytics, not the news.  According to CoreLogic Home Price Index, home prices went up about 7%  in 2020. He expects continued growth in appreciation in the first half but feels it may slow down just a bit in the second half of the year. However, in areas or communities that have been especially hard hit by the pandemic recession, they will likely have price declines.  

We hope you found this information helpful. For more helpful videos check the rest of our blog. And remember A&J Realty Partners are here to help you fulfill your dreams no matter the size!