2021 Real Estate Market Check In

Well, the new year is well underway and 2021 is showing signs of becoming an even stronger real estate market than 2020. In addition to design work, I help my clients buy, sell, and build homes in Douglas county all the time and it’s a good benchmark county to compare to for the Nebraska metro area. The median household income for Douglas County is $67,133 and the average age is 35. Overall median closed prices for homes have steadily increased since 2011. To put it shortly, Douglas county is a thriving county in Nebraska.

New Construction

Closed sales for new homes are up throughout Douglas County compared to last year February year to date with an increase of 33.3% which means that people are building more this year at this time compared to last year. Additionally, the average closed price February year to date this year is up 15.5% compared to last year with a price of $384,351 this year over last year’s $332,740. Inventory for new homes is 185 this year compared to last year’s 366 which is up 49.5%. That means that demand is much higher than supply. With existing home sales being so competitive, more people are building and builders don’t have as much in inventory. In other words, they’re being sold as quickly as builders can build them.

Existing Homes

Closed sales for existing homes are down 4.7% February year to date this year versus last year. Days on the market for a home in February 2021 is 14 and in 2020 it was 25. Homes are selling faster. The average closed price of a home at the same point in this year compared to last year to date is up 13.8% for an average price of $245,830 and list price received is 100%. In my experience, homes sales have been extremely competitive and selling about 20 – 30K above listing. This February we have 290 existing homes in inventory compared to February 2020 when we had 672 home in inventory. That’s a decrease of 60% which is impressive. So…demand here is also much higher than supply.

The saving grace is that mortgage rates are still low which is giving buyers the ability to afford a more expensive home and they can afford to compete in this market. The challenge is finding a house to buy. Incredibly important to being successful when you’re a buyer is finding a real estate agent that has been in the business long enough to have a strong network of other real estate agents and can find you a home before it is on the market.

Ask us how the Priority Group can help. Reach out to us at www.omahaprioritygroup.com or call Sallie Elliott at (402) 630-5953.