While by no means at the scale of the great housing bust of 2008, the latter part of 2023 saw some significant downturns in the real estate market, mainly due to inflation and the uptick in interest rates to combat it. Despite the downward trends of late, Jim Fredricks is upbeat on the outlook for this new year.
“I’m feeling very much more positive about 2024 compared to the latter part of last year,” he asserted when questioned about the trends he’s noted. Fredricks is a Realtor and consultant in communications and governmental affairs.
“There was a significant curtailment of activity by buyers. Many of them were shut out of the market because of the interest rate increase, which definitely influenced the market. We are seeing currently an uptick in activity,” he said.
He credits some recent moderation in interest rates as a positive, along with a slight dip in local home prices. “I see a basically stable and rising level of activity into the spring and summer selling season. We’ve seen prices moderate in most of Montgomery County.”
Fredricks encourages homebuyers to work with a lender as local prices settle and inventory increases over the following months.