Windermere Real Estate
Market Review
Vancouver Metro A special report on Real Estate sales in Clark County for First Quarter 2016 / January through March
First Quarter 2016
Housing Will Have It’s Best Year in a Decade This year is shaping up to be the best year for housing in a decade. Home sales, construction housing starts and house prices are set to reach decade-level highs. Here are several reasons why we think this will happen. Low Mortgage Rates: At the end of 2015, interest rates on 30-year fixed rate mortgages averaged over 4 percent, but declined at the start of 2016 and have remained below 4 percent so far this year. Low mortgage interest rates help support homebuyer affordability in the face of rising house prices and stagnant income. Resilient Labor Market: The U.S. labor market has been remarkably resilient, producing an average of 205,000 net job gains per month since 2011. The steady flow of jobs has helped to bring the unemployment rate down below 5 percent. On the downside, labor force participation has fallen substantially with no sign of recovery and wage growth remains anemic. Household formations on the rise: Given the steady job growth, household formations should start picking up. During the Great Recession household formation rates dropped and still have not picked up to match underlying population growth. Throughout the first half of 2015 the pace of formations seemed to be accelerating, reaching 2.2 million on a year-over-year basis in the second quarter of 2015. In the latter half of 2015, the pace of net household formations dropped by over 50 percent to 800,000 per year. Housing supply Increases: But there’s good news in the housing construction data. Multifamily housing starts have been solid, running above 300,000 for the past three years. But without single-family construction increasing it’s going to be hard to meet housing demand. In February 2016 single-family housing starts were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 822,000, a substantial year-over-over percent increase, but still well below what we’ll need to meet long-run housing demand. Housing prices moving higher: With demand picking up and supply lagging, house prices are moving higher. In 2015, house prices increased about 6 percent on a year-over-year basis. We’re forecasting house prices to continue to rise, but at a moderating pace, with annual house price appreciation slowing to 4.8 percent in 2016 and 3.5 percent in 2017. We think that long-term house prices should grow around 3 percent so this forecast is consistent with a market where supply issues slowly abate. Best year in a decade: Despite the challenges facing the housing market, we expect this to be the best year for housing in a decade. Home sales, housing starts, and house prices will reach their highest level since 2006 according to our latest forecast. Low mortgage rates and an improving labor market—including modest income gains—will help drive housing markets higher. Challenges remain, with low housing supply and declining affordability being a key concern in many markets, but on balance, the housing markets in the U.S. are poised for the best year since 2006.
Keep in mind that these predictions are for the entire United States. If you would like to learn how our market is doing in Clark County or about your specific neighborhood, give me a call. I would love to chat with you! Read the full article at: http://www.freddiemac.com/finance/report/20160331_outlook_housing_will_have_its_best_year_in_a_decade.html#prcltwO26MqJi?platform=hootsuite All information is deemed reliable, but is not a guarantee nor is it guaranteed, and should be verified to your satisfaction.
First Quarter 2016 Residential Homes
In March of 2016, 673 homes were placed under contract. That number is up 4% from this time last year. The For Sale numbers are the snapshot of the number of properties for sale at the end of the month. The Pended numbers represent the number of properties that went into the "pending" status in that month. The Sold numbers represent the number of properties that are sold in a particular month.
What Does Days on Market and Sold/List Price % Report Do? This report shows the percentage of sold price / list price at which an equal number of properties are sold above, equal or below the list price. It indicates how long it has taken to sell those properties. The percentage of sold price / list price helps identify where the market activity is the strongest. The days on market figure helps establish the minimum listing period.
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