TIMING

"No one could have predicted it. Not the economists, not the real estate agents, and especially not the nation’s homebuilders. But a pandemic caused an emotional run on housing unlike any other." - CNBC

Every day I am asked what my thoughts are about timing our current real estate market. Good time or bad time, Americans have been buying homes and refinancing at record-breaking speeds over the last year.

Black Knight reports that mortgage originations broke all records in 2020, with a volume of $4.3 trillion. The refinance portion was record-setting too at $2.8 trillion. The $1.5 trillion in purchase mortgages wasn’t a record, but it was the highest volume since 2005. The fourth quarter of the year also made history with $1.3 trillion in total originations and new quarterly records for both categories of new loans.

Thanks to COVID-19 Americans are on the move—again. In less than 12 months, panic selling, intense buying, jittery markets, remote work, and the desire to get more space for less money in the middle of the ongoing pandemic has created one of the most frenzied and unpredictable real estate markets in a generation. (FORBES)