Q. We've Been Looking for Months, but It Seems Like There's Just No Houses Out There for Us. Is This Going to Change Anytime Soon??
In 2023, the number of national home sales were the lowest they’ve been since 1995. That’s a staggering statistic.
Our area followed that national trend:
- In York, there were 338 residential home sales in 2020.
- In 2021, there were 360.
- In 2022, there were 250.
- In 2023? Only 214 residential home sales for the entire year. And that was a year that the town saw two large developments built!
Was it due to interest rates? Yes, somewhat. But not all of it was what you might think – that rising interest rates slowed the market by making people reluctant to buy. There was also a ‘lock-in effect’ that made people reluctant to sell. Those who had locked in their mortgages when rates were at 2.5%, 3%, and 4% didn’t want to leave those incredible rates in their rearview mirror.
So, they put off their downsizing or moving to a new area or what have you, shrinking the available housing inventory. The low inventory was also greatly impacted by sluggish housing starts over the last few years due to supply chain issues. Bottom line, inventory has been way down, allowing housing prices to maintain their high levels.
Here’s the good news! My prediction is that the wild swings of the past 4 years have bottomed out. Consider the numbers from January 2024 in York – there have already been twice as many sales as in January 2023. If you combine the towns of Kittery, Eliot, York, South Berwick, Berwick, and Wells, January 2024 had 50 sales vs only 35 in January 2023. Let’s work together to keep those numbers climbing - we are here to help with all your real estate needs.
