Wyckoff Real Estate & Wall St. What Goes Up, Must...........

 Even though the Wyckoff housing market looks as certain to rise as the spring shoots, behind that optimism is the perenniel question about whether another “dip” is coming — a lot of which has to do with Wall Street. Remembering how 2008′s economic downturn saw the housing market and stock market take blows pretty much simultaneously, it’s not far-fetched to assume that the two markets always move together. And while some folks are emboldened as stocks soar to record-level heights, for others, the same phenomenon causes altitude sickness. What goes up must…well, you know the rest!
Historically, the housing market and stock market are hardly inextricably joined. Nor should that be a surprise. On the one hand, the housing market reflects a real good (as ‘real’ as it gets!) — something that carries intrinsic utility. That won’t change until people figure out a way to exist without shelter.
Stocks, on the other hand, represent participation in ownership of a venture, and a share of financial gain (or loss) from its success. Both markets are influenced by some of the same factors (employment, inflation, etc.), but to different degrees. It’s widely agreed that the direct influence of one on the other waxes and wanes.
So when anyone thinks about whether a dip is coming in the stock market, and whether that should influence their real estate thinking, I’m pretty certain that the answers are less important than the more measurable effects that buying or selling a home will have on their day-to-day living experience. With positive housing market data continuing to arrive (like the recent rise in land values — up 13% last year; the first annual gain in eight years), it’s hard not to agree with the majority of economists that the positive housing market trend is likely to keep going for a good while longer.
If you are considering selling your home and want to explore the housing market in Wyckoff this April, give me a call.  Regardless of what each market is doing at any given time, I keepe the latest up-to-date statistical and local neighborhood information available for my clients.

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Wyckoff Real Estate

The Market is Really Heating up!

No Calm to Follow Wyckoff Home Sales “Perfect Storm”

 

Last week, Wyckoff home sellers saw more than the usual number of reasons to look forward to this spring's Wykcoff home sales selling season. It looked like the opposite of the lengthy real estate “Perfect Storm” that caused freefall across the national landscape.

Signs pointed to the possibility that we may be headed into the opposite market conditions. Webster's Dictionary says the opposite of 'storm' is 'calm' - but I don't think you would call Wyckoff's home sales outlook a “Perfect Calm.”  Far from it!
Some of the signs:

    •    Falling Inventory. Per the NAR's Existing Home Sales Report, there's a nation-wide shortage of total inventory. By the end of January, it had fallen another 4.9%: lowest in seven years. Raw unsold inventory hasn't been this low in 14 years!

    •    Rising Demand. Per last week's National Association of Home Builders' News and Alerts bulletin, “housing demand continues to return.”  NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, pointing to buyer traffic that is up 40% over a year ago, states flatly, “We've transitioned into a seller's market in much of the country.”

    •    Buyer Attitude. Also last week, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index showed a rebound from January.
The 'Present Situation' index rose sharply (from 56.2 to 63.3). This remains the only less-than-stellar point of contention, I think one area could be a tipoff to gathering strength: the proportion of those expecting their income to rise is now growing, those expecting the opposite, falling.

If this spring turns out to be the opposite of a Perfect Storm for Wyckoff home sales, will conditions improve further? Should sellers wait? The falling inventory measure might suggest otherwise. If the NAR's appraisal is correct, now that these trends are consolidating, “…it would seem likely more inventory would come to market.”

If you are a Wyckoff home seller who's been waiting and watching for the right moment to enter the Wyckoff home sales listings, I hope you will consider giving me a call soon. Actually - today might not be a bad time!