2022 Sonoma County Summer Housing Market Update 🏡
Do you have questions about Sonoma County’s housing market? As quickly as mortgage rates are rising, the once red-hot market is showing signs of cooling. Home prices are still historically high, but there is some concern (fueled by the media) that they will ease up as well.
Today I want to run through some of the latest trends we’ve been seeing this summer and discuss what they say about the state of our market.
For a more detailed overview, be sure to check out the Corcoran Q2 2022 Real Estate Report.
First let’s address a question I have been getting a lot lately: Is today’s housing market in the same predicament that it was over a decade ago, when the 2007-08 crash caused the Great Recession?
The short answer is: no. America’s housing market is in far better health today. That’s thanks, in part, to new lending regulations that resulted from that meltdown. Those rules put today’s borrowers on far firmer footing.
But what about rising interest rates? During the pandemic, rates were historically low, but that’s starting to change. For most of July, my clients received interest rates in the 5.5% range. While that seems high, it’s not too far off from where rates were before the pandemic.
Why a slight slowdown in our market might actually be a good thing….
If you are a buyer:
- There is slightly less competition
- There is room to negotiate
- You have more options, which makes the process of looking at homes fun again
If you are a seller:
- You can still benefit from the enormous appreciation in home values we have seen over the past 2 years
- You are still in a seller’s market and will sell your home quickly
- As long as you have a trusted professional to help you strategically price your home, you will get a lot of interest from buyers
Something to keep in mind: The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported an increase of 100,000 members since 2021. The average experience of NAR agents has decreased to only 8 years. Who knows how long these agents will last in a shifting market—that’s why you need to trust a professional with the skills and experience to get you to the closing table!
