Here’s the December month end and 2023 year end real estate snapshot for Bucks County, PA.
Our first topic is inventory levels. In December, our MSI was a 1.3, which is down from the 1.5 in November. Keep in mind our lowest ever was back in the height of the crazy COVID market when we were a. 7 and we’re really not that far off from there right now, are we?
Our next topic is median sales price. In December, our median sales price was $455,000 which is up $10,000 from the $445,000 that we saw in November.
Our last topic is days on the market. In December, our days on the market was 24, which is up just one day over November at 23. That is seasonal in December things do tend to sit a little bit longer due to the holidays.
If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home this year you may be paying closer attention to the market than the average individual and you’re likely getting your information from a variety of sources - social media, the news, friends and family. You may not know where the best place to turn to for the most accurate information is. One reliable place you can turn to is the Home Price Expectations Survey. This is put out by Fannie Mae and they’re one of the experts in the industry. According to the most recent release, the experts are saying that home prices are going to continue to rise until at least 2028. That’s a full 4 years away. While the percentage of appreciation may not be at that accelerated speed that has been for the past few years, knowing that prices will continue to rise a good thing to be aware of because they’re not set to fall. So, the longer you wait to buy, the more you’re losing.
Over the past year, mortgage rates continued to rise due to uncertainty in the economic market, inflation, and we saw things go as high as 8% this past summer but over the past few weeks, they’ve actually come down pretty significantly. We saw five weeks in a row where rates went almost as low as 5.75 to 6%. That’s fantastic news for the buyers who maybe could no longer afford their dream home at a 7 to 8% interest rate that we saw earlier this year and now they can enter the markets at close to up 6 - 6.5%. Economists are actually predicting that over the next year, we’re probably going to see rates hold steady somewhere in the mid to upper 5’s and that’s a great rate. I know when I bought my first house, I had locked in at around 5.5% and I was thrilled because at that time, rates had always been in the 6’s.
All in all, the past year in real estate has been quite the wild ride with things all over the map in terms of inventory levels and interest rates and I’m hopeful that 2024 settles us into a more normal phase as people fall into the comfortable 5 to 6% interest range and the inventory levels hopefully steady out a little as new sellers enter the market who were a little panicked and hesitant last year now that they know that things are maybe stabilizing for the next years. So I’m looking forward to a beneficial 2024 for all of our buyers and all of our sellers and hopefully it’s a win win for everyone.