We have known Jim & Donna Klinge for over a dozen years, having met them in Carlsbad where our children went to the same school. As long time North County residents, it was a no- brainer for us to have the Klinges be our eyes and ears for San Diego real estate in general and North County in particular. As my military career caused our family to move all over the country and overseas to Asia, Europe and the Pacific, we trusted Jim and Donna to help keep our house in Carlsbad rented with reliable and respectful tenants for over 10 years.
Naturally, when the time came to sell our beloved Carlsbad home to pursue a rural lifestyle in retirement out of California, we could think of no better team to represent us than Jim and Donna. They immediately went to work to update our house built in 2004 to current-day standards and trends — in 2 short months they transformed it into a literal modern-day masterpiece. We trusted their judgement implicitly and followed 100% of their recommended changes. When our house finally came on the market, there was a blizzard of serious interest, we had multiple offers by the third day and it sold in just 5 days after a frenzied bidding war for 20% above our asking price! The investment we made in upgrades recommended by Jim and Donna yielded a 4-fold return, in the process setting a new high water mark for a house sold in our community.
In our view, there are no better real estate professionals in all of San Diego than Jim and Donna Klinge. Buying or selling, you must run and beg Jim and Donna Klinge to represent you! Our family will never forget Jim, Donna, and their whole team at Compass — we are forever grateful to them.
The online home sale marketing company expects 2021 will be a year unlike any other as the housing market responds to the challenges and changing preferences that emerged in 2020. Zillow expects demand to remain high and to surge in cities as economies reopen. It predicts annual home sales growth will be the highest in almost 40 years as financial certainty brings more sellers into the market to meet the heavy demand and technology allows for faster connections with interested buyers. Even so, rising home prices, mortgage rates and rents will bring affordability challenges that must be faced.
Zillow forecasts 21.9 percent annual growth in home sales for a total of almost 6.9 million homes sold. That would be the biggest annual sales growth since 1983. It said home price appreciation will reach its fastest pace since the Great Recession, as the inventory crunch continues to pit buyers against each other, competing for a scarce number of homes for sale. Zillow predicts home price appreciation to exceed 10 percent in 2021.
Zillow foresees a perfect storm of market conditions that will create the hottest spring shopping season in recent memory, with sales happening quickly and often above list price. Many prospective homeowners will become more certain about whether their jobs will be performed remotely long term, which could add buyers to the market who had been waiting for that question to be settled. Rising mortgage rates could also add to the buyer frenzy. Zillow predicts that although dense, urban living got a bad rap this year because of the pandemic, city living will almost certainly enjoy a renaissance in 2021.