If you’re thinking about moving, selling your house this fall might be the way to go states Mike Eastwood Chief Executive Officer of West USA Realty of Prescott. Here are four highlights in the Prescott housing market that may make your decision to sell this fall an easy one. 1. Buyers Are Actively in the Market ShowingTime , a leading real estate showing software and market stat service provider, just  reported  that buyer traffic jumped 60.7% compared to this time last year. That’s a huge increase. It’s clear that buyers are ready, willing, and able to purchase – and they’re in the market right now. In many regions of the country, multiple buyers are entering bidding wars to compete for the home they want. Take advantage of the buyer activity currently in the market so you can sell your house in the most favorable terms. 2. There Are Not Enough Homes for Sale In the latest  Existing Home Sales Report , the  National Association of Realtors  (NAR) announ...

  Back in March, as the nation’s economy was shut down because of the coronavirus, many were predicting the real estate market would face a major collapse states Mike Eastwood Chief Executive Officer of West USA Realty of Prescott. Some forecasts called for a 15-20% decline in transactions. However, six months later, it seems as though the housing market has fully recovered. Mark Fleming,  Chief Economist  at  First American ,  announced  last week: “Since hitting a low point during the initial stages of the pandemic, the only major industry to display immunity to the economic impacts of the coronavirus is the housing market.  Housing has experienced a strong V-shaped recovery  and is now exceeding pre-pandemic levels.” The  Economic & Strategic Research Group  at  Fannie Mae  upgraded its  forecast  for home sales last week: “Housing data over the past month continued to show a  strong V-shape rebound , help...

  Homeownership is one of the best ways to invest in your financial future, especially as your home equity grows states Mike Eastwood Chief Executive officer of West USA Realty of Prescott. Home equity is a form of forced savings that can work to your advantage as the value of your home appreciates. Across the country, home equity was increasing before the health crisis swept our nation, and it continues to grow throughout the year, giving sellers powerful options in this market. According to the just-released Q2  Homeowner Equity Insights Report  by  CoreLogic : “U.S. homeowners with mortgages (roughly 63% of all properties) have seen their equity increase by a total of nearly $620 billion since the second quarter of 2019,  an increase of 6.6%, year over year .”   Dr. Frank Nothaft,  Chief Economist  for  CoreLogic,  attributes much of the equity growth to rising home prices: “The CoreLogic Home Price Index registered a 4.3% annual rise...

  Housing inventory is at an all-time low states Mike Eastwood Chief Executive Officer of West USA Realty of Prescott. There are   39% fewer   homes for sale today than at this time last year, and buyer demand continues to set records.   Zillow  recently   reported : In Prescott Arizona, there are less than 630 homes on the market. “Newly pending sales are up 25.5% compared to the same week last year, the highest year-over-year increase in the weekly Zillow database.” Whenever there is a shortage in supply of an item that’s in high demand, the price of that item increases. That’s exactly what’s happening in the real estate market right now.  CoreLogic’s  latest  Home Price Index  reports that values have increased by 5.5% over the last year. This is great news if you’re planning to sell your house; on the other hand, as either a first-time or repeat buyer, this may instead seem like troubling news. However, purchasers should realize that...

  Earlier this year, many economists and market analysts were predicting an apocalyptic financial downturn that would potentially rattle the U.S. economy for years to come States Mike Eastwood Chief Executive Officer of West USA Realty Of Prescott. They immediately started to compare it to the Great Depression of a century ago. Six months later, the economy is still trying to stabilize, but it is evident that the country will not face the total devastation projected by some. As we continue to battle the pandemic, forecasts are now being revised upward. The   Wall Street Journal   (WSJ) just   reported : “The U.S. economy and labor market are recovering from the coronavirus-related downturn more quickly than previously expected, economists said in a monthly survey. Business and academic economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expect gross domestic product to increase at an annualized rate of 23.9% in the third quarter. That is up sharply from an expectation of an...

  Real estate continues to be called the ‘ bright spot ’ in the current economy states Mike Eastwood Chief Executive Officer of West USA Realty Of Prescott. But there’s one thing that may hold the housing market back from achieving its full potential this year:  the lack of homes for sale . Buyers are actively searching for and purchasing homes, looking to capitalize on today’s historically low-interest rates, but they're just aren’t enough houses for sale to meet that growing need. Sam Khater,  Chief Economist  at  Freddie Mac,   explains : “ Mortgage rates have hit another record low  due to a late summer slowdown in the economic recovery…These low rates have ignited robust purchase demand activity…However, heading into the fall it will be difficult to sustain the growth momentum in purchases because the  lack of supply is already exhibiting a constraint on sales activity .” According to the  National Association of Realtors  (NAR), ri...