Monday, January 8, 2018

2018 Trend

At the beginning of a new year it's natural to reflect on the previous 12 months and look ahead at what's to come. Personally, the last year was my favorite! I became a mother to our daughter Madison and professional I achieved goals and learned a lot. Now politically, well it was even more historic. 

Looking ahead in terms of the real estate, the overall assumption for 2018 is positive. Slight increase in sale prices, only a slight increase in interest rates and economic growth.

Forecasting exactly what the mortgage interest rates will be is tough without a crystal ball. But we can make some educated guesses by watching the Federal Reserve trends. It's predicted rates will go up 3 to 4 times this year, but not to exceed 5%. According to Housingwire recent article, "The MBA predicts rates will increase to 4.6% in 2018, 5% in 2019 and 5.3% in 2020."

What does this mean? If rates increase, home buyers may be priced out of the homes they want. With this threat, it will encourage many buyers that are on the fence to purchase a home sooner than later. This will spur a healthy market in 2018, especially for the 'move up' homeowners. Also, inventory is predicted to remain low, favoring home sellers-again a great opportunity for the 'move up' buyer. However, builders are gradually increasing their construction and their confidence is at an 18 year high according to the National Associations of Home Builders. "NAHB’s Chief Economist Robert Dietz said that the measure of homebuyer traffic increased 8 percent, and “with low unemployment rates, favorable demographics and a tight supply of existing home inventory, we can expect continued upward movement of the single-family construction sector next year,” he added." source: https://www.nahb.org/

Tax reform is a biggie for 2018... 
Definitely speak with your accountant to see how you'll personally be affected. Here are few changes:
1.Generally lower tax rates for individual tax filers. Example; Individual income between $38,700-$93,700 was in 25% bracket. Need law is income between $38,900-$82,500 is 22% and $82,500-157,500 is 24% bracket
2. Itemized deductions for state and property taxes as well as income or sales tax is capped at $10,000
3. Standard deduction for single is $12,000 and $24,000 for joint returns.
Here is more information >>https://www.forbes.com/

Want some good news about taxes? Locally, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties did not include property tax increase for 2018. However, Bucks county approved a 5.4% property tax increase.
https://www.apartmenttherapy.com

Now the important stuff 😀- what is the color of the year to spruce up your home? Try a pop of Ultra Violet! https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2018