As this year draws near to a close, I’ve spent some time reflecting on 20 years of real estate.  It was a little over 20 years ago since I bought my first home, almost 20 years since I bought my first investment property, and almost 18 years since W Realty Group was born.  After all that time, I can earnestly say that my enthusiasm for real estate has only grown stronger.  Home ownership is considered to be the American Dream and with every passing year, this makes more and more sense to me.

We don’t buy real estate for the land or the structures that are built thereupon.  We buy for how the experience makes us feel, for what we make of it, and for what it makes of us.  Real estate has made me feel safe and secure, it has made me feel a sense of financial stability, and it has made me feel proud.  Real estate has given me opportunity to learn new skills such as painting, carpentry, gardening and more.  It has given me opportunities to connect with people; to learn from them and to share what I know.  It has given me the opportunity to build a financial nest egg and secure a future for my family.  It’s given me a place for social gatherings and great content for discussion among friends.  It’s given me an opportunity for self-expression and to put my mark on something tangible.  Real estate has been a vehicle that has made me the person I am today.

Real estate has had the same impact on everyone at the W Realty Group, as well as each of the families we have served.  We have helped facilitate over 1200 sales which include those in which we’ve represented clients and those in which we’ve bought or sold homes personally.  Wrapped up in each of these sales have been births and deaths, weddings and divorces, upsizing and downsizing, gains and losses, and everything in between.  Real estate is often a significant part of the experiences of life.  We believe wholeheartedly in real estate ourselves and we practice what we preach.

2020 has been a very unique year to say the least.  Earlier this week, the first vaccinations for Covid-19 happened, which means that there is now a bright light at the end of the tunnel. This was a year of change and while the vaccine should put an end to the virus, the world as we know it is unlikely to return to the way it was before.

Yet, amidst all of that change and uncertainty, real estate continues to be a source of certainty for America.  So many people took advantage of the low interest rates that were offered in the market this year.  There was a lot of buying, selling and home improvement that took place.  Several people on our team bought and sold homes personally this year.  It was a strong year for real estate and the market stats are there to back this up.  In the past, real estate has been known to carry the economy out of recession.  I think its fair to say that real estate has been a silver lining to this pandemic year.

In two weeks, we’ll start a new year and so many of us are looking forward to a fresh start, a reset of sorts.  Perhaps we can call it the Great Reset of 2021.  If you’ve started your real estate journey, well then, the journey continues.  If you haven’t started yet, there’s no better time than now to get going.  Slow and steady wins the race, but you have you to start in order to play.  We believe in real estate and we’d love to help you love the experience as much as we do.

Month after month since the inception of W Realty Group we’ve reported the stats for single family home sales in Mecklenburg County comparing the last month to the prior month, and the same month last year.  You can find the full stats on our website here:  http://wrealtygroup.com/market/stats/  And I end the last blog post of 2020 with a summary of the stats for November:

• Home sales are down 12% from last month, but up 36% from last year.
• Average sales price is even with last month, but up 12% from last year.
• Median sales price is up 2% from last month and up 10% from last year.
• Average price per square foot is up 2% from last month and 11% from last year.
• Average time on market is even with last month, but down 51% from last year.
• Pending sales are down 11% from last month, but up 43% from last year.
• Supply is down 11% from last month and 1% from last year.
• Mortgage rates at 2.77% are down slightly from 2.83% last month and 3.7% last year.
• Average house payment is about even with last month and last year.

Happy Holidays to everyone.  Looking forward to experiencing the Great Reset of 2021 with you!