It’s fair to say that 2020 was a crazy year. We’ve been following news and expert opinions of what to expect for the coming year, and now that we’re a few weeks into 2021 we have a pretty good handle on what the real estate industry will likely do during our next trip around the sun—and more importantly, how that will affect people who are in the market to buy or build a new home this year.
There’s a lot of info out there nationally, but since we are West Virginia home builders, we’re going to focus on what’s going on in Morgantown, Fairmont, Bridgeport, and the surrounding regions of North Central West Virginia.
So if you’re thinking about buying or building a new home in WV sometime in 2021, you’re going to want to read this…
Ready to dive in? Let’s get to it!
The Existing Housing Market is Slim Pickings.
This is true nationally, but especially true here in North Central West Virginia. If you’ve checked out the real estate listings in and around Morgantown WV over the past decade, you’ll notice a trend: There are not a lot of options out there, and the good ones go fast.
Take a quick look at Zillow for example (go ahead and click here to check it out…we’ll wait) and you’ll see that most homes in the $200,000-300,000 price range that are what most would label as a “fixer-upper.” Sure, there may be a diamond in the rough here and there, but in general it’s pretty tough to find a well-built home in good condition with a good floor plan located in a desirable neighborhood for a reasonable price.
So what can a house-hunter do? Well, you can either lower your standards on an existing home, raise your budget to get something that checks all the boxes, or…
Build a custom home that fits your needs, wants, and style!
Home Prices Are Continuing to Rise.
The national rise in price for existing homes last year was around 15%, meaning that a home priced at $250,000 in 2019 was selling for around $287,500 in 2020.
This is great news for people selling their home because they should be able to get a significantly higher price than what they paid, but it’s not so great for the buyer on a budget who may have to settle on less house for their buck.
Mortgage Rates are still Super Low.
The good news is that the cost of money looks to stay at all-time lows well into 2021. Interest rates are sitting well under 3% as of January 2021, and we’ve heard of rates for certain qualified buyers going below 2% in the past few weeks!
A lower interest rate means lower monthly payments on the same overall price, allowing you to either spend more on a bigger, better house or spend the same amount and have a lower monthly payment.
Lower interest rates also affect new construction, which means now is a great time to build the custom home of your dreams!
If you’d like to run some numbers to see what you can really afford, check out our budget calculator by clicking here.
Takeaways
With home prices rising and interest rates staying low, the demand for houses in North Central West Virginia is only going to make the already sparse residential real estate market even more competitive. This will mean it will be tougher to find a well-appointed and reasonably priced house. So what is a home-buyer like you to do?
Designing and building a brand-new custom home with a builder like Vision Homes has so many benefits over buying a home that was build for someone else’s needs.
Imagine years of worry-free living knowing that you won’t have to replace your roof or furnace (because it’s brand new) and that every appliance and window you see is efficient and saving you money on utilities.
Imagine waking up in a master bedroom that perfectly suits your taste, walking down the hall to a spacious kitchen with all the modern amenities to make your morning coffee, then settling into your daily routine in a home that was built just for you and your family.
If you like that image and are interested in learning more about building a new home in Morgantown, Fairmont, Bridgeport, or anywhere in the NCWV area…we should talk! The first step is to contact us to set up a time where we can talk about what you are looking for in a new home, figure out your budget, and answer any questions you may have about the process or timeline of building a new custom home.
We’d love to talk with you, so contact us today!
P.S. If you’re looking for some more in-depth information on this topic, you can read this great article from Dave Ramsey here—it was a good national resource for helping us prepare locally.