2021 coming to an end

Wait...2021 is OVER?? Does anyone else feel like it was a blur? I mean, I know that the world has marched on since our first lockdown in March of 2020, but my memories of the past 19 months are all mushed together as if it was one long year.

And the real estate market has been bananas! Low inventory, frenzied buyers, climbing prices...oh my! "Multiple offers" had new meaning as hot homes were getting as many as 50 offers to purchase. As a result, desperate buyers escalated offer prices 5-10% over ask....and often STILL lost out.

It sounds like 2022 will bring us more of the same..at least for a while. I just watched an interview with Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR, who predicted interest rates to rise to 3.7% in the coming year. The rate increase coupled with inflation may price some buyers out of the market later in the year.

Dr. Yun is also predicting a loosening of inventory mid-year. He cites an increase in new home construction and movement from folks in forbearance. My personal experience in our SD Metro market leads me to believe these two factors won't have that big an impact on our inventory.

Overall, my takeaway was that we'll see some slowing to this runaway train, but the robust market is here to stay for 2022.