Number of Home Sales See Increase

Real estate market shows signs of strength

The real estate market for 2021 has an optimistic forecast from economists stating that home sales should be strong while Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac anticipate that rates should remain low. In terms of what is transpiring in the market as of late, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has recently shared a report stating that home sales have been showing tremendous growth.

Home Sales

Total home sales of properties including single family homes, townhomes, condos and co-ops have increased at the end of 2020 during the month of December by 0.7% from the month before. Growth year over year was most notable as sales were up by 22.2% from the same time in 2019.

“Home sales rose in December, and for 2020 as a whole, we saw sales perform at their highest levels since 2006, despite the pandemic,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “What’s even better is that this momentum is likely to carry into the new year, with more buyers expected to enter the market.”

Available Inventory

At the end of the year 2020, housing inventory remained tight as ever. The total number of available homes for sale had decreased by 16.4% in December from the month before and by comparison to 2019 at this time was down by a measurable 23%. This caused available inventory to hover at an all time low of 1.9 months of supply at the current sales pace.

Days on Market

Properties were on the market for sale for an average of 21 days in December of 2020. With the lack of inventory at this time the average time on the market was significantly lower than December of 2019 at 41 days. 

Home Loan Rates

Mortgage rates were at extreme lows at the end of the year with Freddie Mac reporting that the average commitment rate for a 30 year fixed mortgage had dropped as low as 2.68%. By comparison, the average commitment rate for all of last year was 3.11%.