I produced 166 YouTube videos on my main channel this year, and these were the best, as decided by me. All had to have 200+ views to qualify:
This is just another grandma house blowing out at $125,000 over list, which isn’t remarkable. But this is the only video ever in which I slipped and fell down:
Some of my best thoughts about the market, long-term:
The Frenzy Cruise was hot all year and a good indicator that buyers will keep paying over list price for a home they really want. It’s just a matter of how much over:
Daughter Natalie had the time of her life touring football stadiums in America with Karol G this summer:
Natalie is in the Rose Parade tomorrow!
She will be dancing in the Grand Finale with Jordin Sparks but will also be featutred with other performers during the parade, starting at 8am Monday!
The U.S. Census Bureau released a report showing that about 4 million U.S. households with an adult age 65 or older had difficulty living in or using some features of their home.
About 50 million, or 40 percent, of U.S. homes had what were considered to be the most basic, aging-ready features: a step-free entryway into the home and a bedroom and full bathroom on the first floor.
About 4 million or 11 percent of older households reported difficulty living in or using their home. The share increased to nearly 25 percent among households with a resident age 85 or older.
Older homeowners tended to be aware of their home’s accessibility shortcomings – they just don’t do anything about them. Most older households did not plan to renovate to make their home more aging accessible – only about 6 percent of homeowners with at least one person aged 65 or older had plans for home improvement projects to make their home more accessible for people with physical limitations. For the oldest households (one person over 85 years old), this proportion increased to 9.1 percent.
If you are going to make one last move, do it when you are younger/healthy and can handle it. We just spent the last two days helping my uncle go through his ‘stuff’, and it’s amazing how much accumulates over time!
I’m guessing that our local NSDCC inventory has to be at least 10% higher in 2024 than it was this year. Heck, it would need to grow +20% just to get back to the same number of houses for sale in 2022!
Bill agrees that we should see more listings in 2024:
Somewhat lower mortgage rates – and time – will likely lead to more new listings in 2024. Still, mortgage rates will remain well above the pandemic lows, and therefore new listings will be depressed again in 2024.
The bottom line is inventory will probably increase year-over-year in 2024. However, it seems unlikely that inventory will be back up to the 2019 levels. Inventory is always something to watch!
So far, there have only been 73 NSDCC closings this month, which is well under the 110 sales last December. The median sales price is 11% higher, but with such low volume we can’t make much of that statistic. The current inventory is so picked over that it’s impressive there are that many sales.
Hitting your parents up for cash can be awkward. But sometimes the best money move is to ask for help.
Take comfort that you aren’t the only one asking. About 68% of parents of adult children have made or are currently making a financial sacrifice to help their kids financially, according to a recent Bankrate survey. And 38% of home buyers under age 30 received help with the down payment from their parents, according to a survey this spring by Redfin.
Tax rules for gifts can be complicated, but unless it is a big gift, there is nothing for the giver to worry about. Recipients generally don’t owe income taxes on gifts.
An individual can give an unlimited number of people gifts up to $17,000 each for 2023 with no federal gift or estate-tax consequences. That jumps to $18,000 for 2024. Givers must report larger gifts on a federal gift-tax return, but there is no tax due until lifetime gifts exceed $12.92 million ($13.61 million for 2024).
Last year, the index was falling faster than this year (another good sign going into 2024). There might be some noise in the next three readings, but the second half of 2023 should wind up flat at worst.
The index dropped 11% in the second half of 2022, and currently the second half of 2023 is +1.1%.
The October index is 2% below the all-time high in May, 2022, and is +68% from when this blog started!
It’s been impressive how strong the pricing has looked towards the end of the year. But if we’re looking at the median list prices, then all we know is that these are the medians of what’s not working…..but at least they aren’t going the other way!
The limited inventory has helped to keep the market stabilized. The total number of NSDCC houses for sale in 2023 was only 2,531 for the year, which was 17% lower than last year and 47% lower than 2019. Yet sales were only down 15% from 2022, and -38% from 2019.
Next year should be equally exciting, either because the inventory stays ultra-low and we gawk at the fight over too few goods, or because there is a 10% to 20% surge in listings that will bring out more demand!
Plus lower rates – wow, it’s going to be one heck of a year. I could not be more optimistic!
