To buy or not to buy: The housing market today.

Nov 4, 20212 min read

PASADENA, CA – It has never been harder to buy a house in southern California than during this global pandemic. Although many people are looking to buy houses, there isn’t a guarantee that people will be able to get one within their budgets due shifts in the market. Berkshire Hathaway realtor Rebecca Marder has been selling houses for about a year. She continues to promote her buyers to keep trying during this hard time. She says, “Save as much as you can.”

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Realtors, sellers and buyers are all on the back end of the housing market as it continues to shift. John and Elena Marx started looking for a new home in Pasadena, CA when the pandemic started in March of 2020. They say, “Well the market has definitely gone higher and priced us out of the market, it seems like it’s a seller’s market now.”

The current state of the housing market in the U.S. is hitting new record highs and it’s unclear when it will end. One of the best ways to describe this market is like the housing bubble that inflated from 2004 to 2007, resulting in the Great Recession. This was one of the worst blows to the U.S. economy since the Great Depression.

The California Association of Realtors has estimated that due to low incomes, 77% of households won’t qualify to buy a median priced house. This comes after a jump in average pricing of a median house rose by 5.2%. In 2022, it’s estimated that the price of an average home would be placed around $834,400.

Also, many realtors have tried hard to create a safe environment for people while dealing with COVID-19. The advantages of having virtual 3D tours and working from home had lifted a weight off of both the buyers’ and realtors’ shoulders so they can still view or show homes.

Photo Credits by Dominique Silva

Realtor Marder says, “…a lot of places have been selling above listing price and above asking price because of so much competition. There’s not a lot of houses on the market and a lot of demand.”

The price increases for homes are hoped to level out soon. Economists at Moody Analytics say they don’t believe the economy will crumble like last time. It’s predicted that some areas of the country will fall while others with gain modestly.