Keeping It REAL - by Bettsy Tyler

 It's Anybody's Guess But...  With 10 years having now passed since the Great Recession, the U.S. has been on the longest period of continued economic expansion on record. The housing market has been along for much of the ride and continues to benefit greatly from the overall health of the economy. However, hot economies eventually cool and with that, hot housing markets move more towards balance. Housing market forecasts are essentially informed guesses based on existing patterns, and there are plenty of guesses going around, While the real estate pace of 2021 appears to be reverting to seasonality as we approached 2022, demand is not waning. Increasing interest rates will almost certainly have a greater impact on the national housing market as we move into 2022 than any other factor. Sellers remain in an advantageous position as long as the inventory remains at or near its current level. Housing supply is and will likely remain a challenge for some time as labor and mate...

The mid 1950’s was a time of development in California. The small farms and rural communities were fast becoming suburban tracks of the American dream. A family making the median income could afford to buy a brand-new home in a mass-produced suburb on the outskirts of cities such as San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The single-family home and suburban dream of 65 years ago became the American housing system. Year after year developments were built with basically similar homes with similar lots sizes surrounded by fences and sidewalks. Yet California has had a housing shortage for decades. Fast forward to 2021. It is not news that California home prices are some of the highest in the nation. Those same suburban homes today require two times the median income to even think about purchasing. They are no longer on the outskirts as cities and businesses sprawled outward. Since the mid 1970’s, when housing began out-pacing wages, many warned that the housing problems would remain...

  15 years can make for quite a change in real estate. Who would have thought prices would be where they are today? A steady climb over the last 10 years is quite remarkable!  

  Could Rising Home Prices Impact Your Net Worth?   Learn how to determine your current net worth and how an investment in real estate can help improve your bottom line. Among its many impacts, COVID-19 has had a pronounced effect on the housing market. Low home inventory and high buyer demand have driven home prices to an all-time high. 1 This has given an unexpected financial boost to many homeowners during a challenging time. However, for some renters, rising home prices are making dreams of homeownership feel further out of reach. If you’re a homeowner, it’s important for you to understand how your home’s value contributes to your overall net worth. If you’re a renter, now is the time for you to figure out how homeownership fits into your short-term goals and your long-term financial future. An investment in real estate can help you grow your net worth, build wealth over time, and gain a foothold in the housing market to keep pace with rising prices. What i...