Expectations were kept in check in the Houston real estate world when 2021 got underway. The area was coming off a record year in sales in spite of a global pandemic that had necessitated reinventing the way homes are generally sold, introducing virtual tours and electronic signatures that kept everyone safe and able to move.
2021 ended up shattering records.
“It was a record year,” exclaims Houston Realtors Association Chair Jennifer Wauhob, who sells with Better Homes and Gardens Gary Green. “A record number of sales, a record dollar volume. We thought 2020 was about as good as it could get and 2021 actually exceeded that.”
The inventory was historically low but it did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm or prices. According to the HAR 2021 year end analysis, “Single-family home sales surpassed 2020’s record volume by more than 10 percent, and total dollar volume soared more than 28 percent to a record $40 billion.
Inventory and prices are the biggest considerations for those in the real estate market in 2022.
Sellers should maximize everything gained in the equity in the home, and homeowners not selling might want to consider a refi. Wauhob says buyers should beware. “Everything is predicted to go up this year. Interest rates and home prices are still predicted to go up even a little more than where they are right now,” she advises. For buyers, time is not on your side.
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