Price data trends are most powerful when you’re able to drill down into a neighborhood or its surrounding area, providing you with real-world examples of how a market is behaving.
Talking to a local agent, such as myself, about property values for the type of home you’re either selling or buying is always a smart move.
You want to ask the agent not just about values and price expectations, but also the average number of days a property will stay on the market. This statistic is a great indicator for the strength of the market and degree of buyer competition that can lift a property price.
If you’re looking to find out these trends in our location, I’d be more than happy to help.
For sellers, this could be a great moment to enter the market.
Mortgage costs have dropped again to around 6.8% but remain a little off the pace of last September’s 6.18% – the lowest rate we’ve seen for two years.
Pundits predict the 6.8% retail rate will stay steady throughout 2025.
That’s because the Federal Reserve has now said it’s backing off an anticipated campaign of incremental cuts due to strong job-creation numbers and the risk of inflationary pressures returning.
President Trump is pressuring the Fed to cut rates to stimulate the economy and liberate the housing market. For now, the spectre of inflation is winning the argument.
As a local real estate agent, I can see our local values are showing strong growth trends just as they are nationally.
The national value growth average is 3.9% – a steady trend that is powered by a mix of lower mortgage costs – they peaked at around 8% last August – and a shortage of homes for sale.
A statement from Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group suggests that while sentiment is moving in a positive direction, 2025 sales are likely to be 22% below pre-Covid levels.
It’s an interesting exercise to see which of our major cities is currently attracting strong buyer attention and the resulting price growth for houses, apartments and condos. As I mentioned above, not every neighbourhood, or city, is the same.
To prove it, here are some of the big city trends, as measured by the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller in January:
New York: Among our biggest cities, the Big Apple has the fastest growing property value at 7.2% pa.
Chicago: It’s second in the top 20 with 6.6%.
Boston: The city has never enjoyed higher property prices. Its annual growth rate in the 12 months to December was 6.3%.
Tampa, FL: Prices here have fallen 1.1% annually, which may explain why the Governor, Ron De Santis, is all-in with President Trump on the desire to cut property taxes.
San Francisco: Once the darling of the property world – and tech start-up world – it’s suffering a correction. Its values are 11% below their peak of May 2022.
So, talk to me about local trends in our neighborhoods to help you make a judgment about entering the market.