Real estate had plenty happening to it to create its own headlines for 2018.
The biggest news for real estate in 2018, according to Realtor, had been the ups and downs that the market had been on. There had been splashes of 'prime' real estate searches and 'market realities' spurred along by the weather in these stories.
However, it was the home market, according to CNBC, that made the biggest news with its price jumps of up to 7.1 percent and mortgage rates climbing up further. Homeowners, as a result, didn't want to move from their homes. This, in turn, reduces the number of homes up for sale on the market, the same way it's been for the past 36 months.
The first quarter of the year hadn't been any kinder to the market. About 50 percent of these homeowners had to contend with mortgage rates of 3.75 percent or less and that only grew up in May to 4.6 percent. With these rates, homeowners felt it wiser to retain their homes rather than sell it at a profit to people looking for investments or buy another home that had higher interest rates.
It does not bode well for the rest of 2019, as estimates have leaned towards home sales being on the further decline. Mortgage rates going up have something to do with that as well. It had gone down a little earlier at the end of this year to 4.75%, but that's still no cause for celebration. The estimates have it that home prices wouldn't go down all the way, causing people to keep to their homes for the time being.
Amazon had been a catalyst for the real estate market, however. As all significant companies have done, Amazon's relocation to two cities-Long Island and Crystal City-have brought along potential home buyers and renters with it. It's a bright spot that turned the formerly sleepy markets into vicinities that are rife with activity.
There's still a lot that can happen in the waning days of the year, but for now, it seems that these activities are what the real property market is hanging on to.
