2025: Here We Come!

We still have December’s sales to tally, but statistics are in for year-to-date comparisons to 2023’s numbers. New home sales are up 21.72% in 2024 over 2023, according to Data Data Inc., a local real estate statistics firm. Existing home sales were less impressive, up just 3.36% over the previous year. Residential refinances were up nearly 50%! Over 1500 HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) or other, second-position loans, were taken out in the last 13 months.

Interest rates have played a huge role in shaping all of the above numbers. Keep reading below about how so-so interest rates drive new construction more than existing home sales. What’s predicted for 2025? Mortgage rates are expected to drop from the current average above 7% into the range of 6.2% to 6.6%. None of the predictions I’ve seen foresee rates dropping below 6%.

As the calendar page flips into a new year, there’s a lot of uncertainty beyond interest rates: will tariffs and mass deportation happen, and what effect will they have on local housing supply/demand and the national economy? A feature of the housing market has been homeowners who would have expected to move up or downsize have instead stayed put because of the so-so interest rates cited above. These homeowners don’t want to lose their interest rate they locked in when rates were lower. New home construction has been and will continue to fill that gap; for many first-time home-buyers, too few homes on the market have pushed them to look at new houses.

The other trend in real estate both locally and nationally is commissions. While some appeals have been filed to contest the national agreement that threw away the “sellers’ agent pays buyers’ agent” tradition, and others hope that the new President’s Justice Department might see things differently, it looks like the big changes resulting from a settlement of a class-action lawsuit will continue an evolution of the custom that used to protect buyers from having to pay their real estate agent out-of-pocket. If you’re a buyer, make sure you understand the Buyer’s Brokerage Agreement you sign when you begin working with an agent—it’s different than before.

Local real estate has remained resilient in 2024 through all of the turmoil of elections, interest rate and commission changes. That is a statement, in my opinion, about the enduring appeal of living and working in Clark County. People enjoy what our area has to offer: world class scenery, moderate weather, our transportation network including an excellent international airport, and proximity to a larger, metropolitan area.

Through it all, the title company’s role remains unchanged: a neutral, third party to help all parties get what they bargained for, and accomplish their goal of buying, selling, or refinancing. Everyone benefits from the care, knowledge and expertise we bring to your important transaction. We are grateful to play a leading role in support of local real estate.

Happy New Year! From your friends at Clark County Title,
Scott