If January is any indication of what is in store for the real estate market in 2024, then we are going to have a stellar year!

As I predicted at the end of 2023 (I love it when I am right), not only did we see more homes go under contract in January, the interest rates dipped blow 7% for the first time in 4.5 months, and sellers started reaching out about selling their homes again.

Although home sales declined by over 12% in 2023, according to the Houston Association of Realtors, it remained a Seller’s market due to low inventory in most markets. In my opinion, we saw sales slow in the last quarter of 2023 because buyers were fatigued with low inventory and high interest rates, so they just decided to enjoy the holidays and resume the home search in January.

And we are off to the races again as sellers are seeing multiple offers above list price as all of these buyers that were sidelined at the end of 2023 pick up the pace on their home search again. As I am searching for the words to describe what is going on, I am preparing to meet a seller that may have as many as 10 offers on a home that I just listed on Thursday and had over 50 showings (30 at an open house) in 4 days!

The good news is that the phone is also ringing with Sellers that either have to move due to a job or family change, or they want to take advantage of the extra equity and sell their homes this year. Based on the activity coming into January, we should see a lot more homes for sale in 2024, which should create a more balanced market and give buyers a little more advantage.

The Buying season starts after Super Bowl Sunday, which is this weekend, so if you are a buyer that has been anxious about pent up demand, be ready for this market to heat up!

According to an article in US News and World Report, “As a baseline scenario, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is expected to fall to the low-6% range through the end of 2024, dipping into high-5% territory by early 2025.” Interest rates may not ease up much more than the 6.5% average we are seeing today, but housing inventory should continue to improve in the next 2-4 months.