Nationally, at the end of 2018, pending home sales fell, possibly due to concerns about the economy and rising home prices, according to a recently released housing index from the National Association of REALTORS®.
Chief economist for NAR, Lawrence Yun said, “The stock market correction hurt consumer confidence, record high home prices cut into affordability, and mortgage rates were higher in October and November for consumers signing contracts in December.”
Compared to a year ago, all four major regions of the U.S. posted declines, with the South posting the largest decrease (the South also had the highest level of sales going in.)
Yun also said, ““The longer-term growth potential is high. The Federal Reserve announced a change in its stance on monetary policy. Rather than four rate hikes, there will likely be only one increase or even no increase at all. This has already spurred a noticeable fall in the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages. As a result, the forecast for home transactions has greatly improved.”
That being said, one thing we know for certain is that while it’s good to look at what is happening nationally, real estate is local. Knoxville has fared better than what the information above would have you think. While the South showed the biggest decrease, that isn’t true everywhere as witnessed in the images below.
This first image relates to the national numbers:
This next image looks at the same timeline of December, comparing LOCAL Pending Sales and Median Sales Price by County (December 2018 vs. December 2017):
This last image looks at the year to date numbers comparing single family home sales and median sales price, locally by county 2018 vs 2017:
Wondering how your specific subdivision, neighborhood, or your personal home has fared? Just contact me, Troy Stavros with CornerStone Realty Associates and I’d be happy to go over those with you!