Here’s what you need to know about what’s happening in San Luis Obispo.

It’s January 2022, and that means it’s time for another San Luis Obispo market update. Today I want to look at the numbers and answer two big questions. First, are we in a housing bubble? Second, is now a good time to list your home? Let’s jump into it:

Year over year, we had around 50% fewer homes available in December of 2021 than we did in 2020. On top of that, 50% fewer new homes entered the market in December of 2021 compared to December 2020. Meanwhile, sales and pending listings are both down around 30% due to our lower inventory.

As far as the entire year is concerned, our county had about 10% more sales in 2021 than we did in 2020, so we had more sales even though we had lower inventory. As you can probably tell, things are pretty hot right now. This has led many people, especially in the media, to ask, “Are we in a bubble?”

For our market to slow down, we would need to see two things: an increase in supply and a decrease in demand. We just talked about how low our inventory is, so what else could affect our market?

“Our market continues to be hot. ”

First, interest rates could increase. Just a 1% increase in interest rates will lower people’s buying power by about 10%. We could also have a ton of new construction enter the market, but builders are having issues. Labor shortages, material shortages, and regulations are all having an impact on builders, and people continue to move to our area. It doesn’t look like our hot market is going anywhere for a while.

So is now a good time to list your home? You could wait for spring, but there will be more competition for your home. Also, interest rates are likely to increase this year, but we don’t know when or by how much. Instead of waiting for a potentially good market, you could take advantage of our current one by listing now.

If you have any questions, or you are interested in buying or selling a home, please reach out to my office at 805-781-3750 or visit our website at www.halsweasey.com. We look forward to hearing from you!