Move over, Polar Vortex! Be gone, -25 degrees! Local real estate sales are headed for a warmup with the spring market on the horizon. Barrington residents planning to sell their homes in 2019 have been making recommended preparations and we’ve also been busy helping soon-to-be home buyers monitor the market.
What do forecasters say the future of real estate looks like nationally in 2019? In a Forbes report, economists predict that this year overall home sales will decline, home price appreciation will slow to 3.0 percent, buyers will face less competition and we’ll see even more millennials in the marketplace.
National Association of Realtors (NAR’s) Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun is optimistic despite NAR’s recent report that existing home sales closed out 2018 on a low note in December, down -6.4 percent from the prior month and down -10.3 percent from December of 2017.
Yun cites several reasons for the December decline including higher mortgage interest rates, national home price gains and tax changes, which have become less favorable for homeownership. Last week, Yun summed up his current outlook in a headline which reads, “Dismal December shouldn’t carry over into 2019 home sales.”
“The outlook for 2019 looks quite good,” Yun says in a report for The Hill. “The Federal Reserve has changed its stance regarding monetary policy. Rather than four rate hikes in 2019, as was widely assumed to be the case just a few months ago, the Fed is likely to raise its short-term rate just once. This shift has quickly led to a measurable fall in the rate on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages, from 5 percent in early December to 4.5 percent as of mid-January. As a result, the outlook for home sales improved.”
Yun says it also helps to see income rates on the rise. “For the first time in years, income gains of a projected 3.5 percent will outpace home price growth of around 2 percent. That is healthy and a turn toward better housing affordability.”
Here in the Barrington area, December home sales were up +2.0%, with the median single family home sales price at $520,000, down -2.4% from $533,000 in December of 2017.
Today in Barrington, there are about 520 active listings on the market plus 95 properties under contract. We’ll share January’s numbers for you after month’s end but we know that, as of right now, about two dozen homes have closed in Barringtonton since Jan 1 of 2019. Here’s a look at how that compares to trends historically. (If you’re reading on mobile, turn to side for full view of chart and hover or tap data points to see numbers per month.)
Of the properties sold in Barrington since January 1st, 2019, 18 of them are single family homes. The median sale price of all single family homes was was $612,000 with a minimum sold price of $230,000, a maximum sold price of $1,400,000 and an average market time of 180 days. Here’s a look at our median single family home prices historically.
We can all play a part in spreading the word about what makes Barrington a great place to live. Tell your friends elsewhere in Chicagoland to COME AND SEE all our community has to offer! Share your local lifestyle photos on social media with (hashtag) #365Barrington or #ChooseBarrington and we’ll add them to our daily collection at 365Barrington.com.
If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home today or down the road, give me a call/text at 847-691-3150 or email Liz@365Barrington.com. I’m a long-time local Realtor working hard to share the 365+ million reasons why Barrington is a great place to live. My license is with the @properties office on Northwest Highway and I know from experience that our community’s Realtors are among the very best in the business. We have many resources to share today that will give you an advantage when you’re ready for your next move and we’re always an email or a phone call away!
[showcaseidx_hotsheet name=”Post View – All Barrington for Sale”]
