Political distractions aside.....US Case Shiller Home Index finished the year with a bang, as US home prices were up 8.41%. While the economy contracted by the sharpest rate on record, it seems as though potential home buyers were not as impacted. Job losses were concentrated in the lowest wage industries according to the California Association of Realtors(CAR). CAR is forecasting modest price growth for 2021. Realtor.com is forecasting that the market will get "back to normal" which means to slow a bit. Check out the full story here. Below you can see that local prices are still quite strong, mostly due to the low inventory levels. As long as rates remain low and the flow of buyers is steady, we will be in a holding pattern.
Where are people moving?
Sometimes the best people to ask are the movers! United Van Lines did a survey and created a fun interactive tool along with their results. Among the top inbound states were South Carolina (64%), Oregon (63%), South Dakota (62%) and Arizona (62%), while New York (67%), Illinois (67%), Connecticut (63%) and California (59%) were among the states experiencing the largest exoduses.
United Van Lines also conducts a survey examining the reasons behind Americans’ migration patterns as a companion to the study’s findings. This year’s survey results indicated 40% of Americans who moved did so for a new job or job transfer (down from prior years), and more than one in four (27%) moved to be closer to family (which is significantly up over prior years).
Data from March to October 2020 also revealed the COVID-19 pandemic influenced Americans’ decisions to move.
If you are getting the "moving to a new location" bug, check out America's Best Places To Live in 2021. In addition to looking at costs, other considerations included quality of life and net migration patterns.