2021 Clark County Real Estate Year In Review

2021 has been a year like no other; we saw everything from the historic vaccine rollout, to several devastating natural disasters, to watching the Perseverance rover land on Mars. In Clark County, we’ve had a year of reopening and rebuilding from quarantine and welcomed in the new challenges and joys that 2021 brought us. 

As we round out the final days of this year, we are looking back at the ways the pandemic affected the real estate market and where we are headed now. 

In the early spring of 2020, all signs seemed to point to an incoming buyer’s market–where there are more homes for sale than buyers looking to purchase. When the pandemic hit, all bets were off. Real Estate was determined an essential business on March 31st of 2020 by Washington Governor Jay Inslee and as we came back to work, there was much uncertainty of how the market would react. As described by Go With Ro team member, Destany Dalle; “We thought the market was going to crash and completely slow down, but all of a sudden the amount of people who wanted to move increased tenfold and inventory shot down.” Across the country, we entered a dramatic seller’s market, with the number of buyers significantly exceeding the number of available homes.

Rowena Lusby, Managing Broker and owner of Go With Ro, credits the dramatic increase in buyers both to historically low mortgage rates, and a shift in home priorities offered by the pandemic: “With brick and mortar becoming less of a necessity for businesses, many workers have been afforded the luxury of relocating to areas they always dreamed of living. Many have entered the real estate market with hopes to gain home office space, upsize their accommodations, or even find their ideal retirement home.” 

At the height of the pandemic, it became very typical to have 5-10 offers on a home within less than a week on the market. In the first half of 2021, the Go With Ro team saw stunning statistics on our sales with homes selling for an average of nearly $30,000 over asking within a week on the market. “I was watching a lot of buyers compromise on items they wouldn’t normally compromise on,” says Destany, “waiving home inspections and other buyer protections, offering cash sales, including additional guarantees and commitments in their offers, anything to make their offer more competitive.”

As we continued through the year, we saw inventory slowly begin to recover offering some relief to buyers but stayed firmly in a seller’s market. Clark County currently stands in a real estate sweet spot, with historically low mortgage rates allowing buyers more financial flexibility and the competitive market offering sellers quick home sale processes. It is a great time to check how your home equity stands, and we encourage you to contact us for a free end-of-year home market analysis report. 

“Looking into 2022, we are anticipating a solid continuation of our current market conditions for months to come,” says Rowena. Early forecasts of the 2022 market show signs of continued home prices continuing to rise another 2-3% on top of 2021 highs. We are anticipating a gradual increase in mortgage rates as well, making affordability a top consideration for many homebuyers, especially for the millions of Millennials who are coming into prime first-time homebuyer age. Though inventory is expected to increase as we progress into the year, the market will remain very competitive and fast-paced to accommodate high buyer demand. 

Our advice for those interested in entering the real estate market in the new year: have a realtor team behind you that you trust. There will be many twists and turns as the market steadily recovers from the inventory imbalance and you want to be sure you will be guided by agents who know how to use those twists to your benefit. There are many potential advantages to be had from the current state of the market and The Go With Ro Team is here to answer all of your questions and ensure your home sale or purchase is as smooth and stress-free as possible. To get in touch with us, give Rowena a call at (360) 909-6399 or email at Rowena@GoWithRo.com. 

On behalf of the whole team at Go With Ro, we are sending wishes of warmth, joy, and tranquility this holiday season.