2021 has been an extremely volatile and unpredictable year when it comes to real estate. Prices have been sky-high for months, and inventory hit record lows. Will 2022 bring change to this turbulent market, or will it be more of the same?
Predicted Growth
2022 is expected to bring continued growth of the market in the Triangle. This means increases in both demand and home prices, which is good news for current homeowners. However, renters won’t be so lucky. According to Realtor.com, rent will outpace home prices by 7.1% in the upcoming year. This increase will end up driving many renters into homeownership.
As well, thanks to more people working from home, location is not as much of a factor for many buyers. This means that prices in suburban and exurban areas, which are typically cheaper, will likely increase faster than those in more urban neighborhoods. In the Triangle, towns like Youngsville, Clayton, Knightdale, Wendell, and Zebulon will continue to see rapid growth in the coming years.
What About Inventory?
Inventory is also predicted to increase within the coming year. As the world starts to become more and more acclimated to living in the pandemic, many homeowners will finally become more comfortable selling their house. This will have a sort of chain reaction on inventory. As inventory increases, homeowners will become more willing to sell, as they now have more homes to choose from to then move in to.
Building supplies are also expected to be less scarce, which will promote an increase in new construction. And, once again, the advent of working from home means that more people will be fine with moving to these less central locations.
Final Predictions
In the short term, 2022 won’t look too much different from 2021. By the end of 2022, chances are we will still be in a strong seller’s market, simply due to the high demand.
However, it seems that this coming year will be the start of a new market trend. While growth in prices is still going strong, it isn’t increasing as much as it has over the past 2 years. Inventory will most likely make a turn around, and interest rates are very likely to increase. Over the next few years, home prices are still expected to increase significantly too. These factors all combine to make it an extremely good time to buy or sell.