It was a record year for real estate in the Brazos Valley.
For the first time ever, real estate in the Brazos Valley hit $1 billion worth of sales, a 19% increase from 2019.
Amy DuBose, Association Executive, Bryan-College Station Regional Association of REALTORS®, says people living in the big cities, but working from home, now have more options of where to live and raise a family.
“In larger metropolitan areas like Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas, now have a little bit of additional flexibility. I think they feel like they have more options overall as far as where they want to be, where they want their family to be,” said DuBose.
Supply chain disruption, wildfires, and other natural disasters caused issues in the construction industry, which caused more people to buy instead of build.
On the flip side, DuBose says they saw a drop in inventory this year because less people were selling.
“Folks who didn’t want to move, they didn’t want to list because of everything going on, they didn’t want people in their houses. So that has played into the inventory issues we were already working with,” said DuBose.
DuBose says buyers are still in good shape because interest rates are low, but things on the market are moving quickly so both buyers and sellers should have all their ducks in a row before entering the housing market.
Listen to “Brazos Valley Real Estate Hits $1 Billion in 2020” on Spreaker.
News release from Bryan-College Station Regional Association of REALTORS®:
Like lots of things, the real estate market in 2020 was anything but typical. The Bryan-College Station Regional Association of REALTORS and MLS recently released annual data for their database. For the first time, overall sales volume topped $1 Billion. That total sales volume represents a 19% increase from 2019.
The year was marked with consistently increasing sales month-over-month and decreasing active listings, as well. The year-end total sales hit 3,879 listings sold. With sales so high, inventory has had a hard time keeping up.
Over the last few years, the market has held 1150-1250 active listings in its system at years-end. At the end of December, we only had 838 active listings. That low level of inventory has fostered a multiple-offer and ultra-competitive market, especially in moderate price points.
Though no one has a crystal ball, we anticipate that the market will continue to run at the same pace we have experienced over the last six months. Buyers will enjoy low interest rates for the time being and sellers will be exposed to a larger number or potential buyers. Each side of the transaction should be prepared to move quick and be realistic about what the market currently has to offer.
As always, it is recommended that buyers and sellers alike use a local REALTOR®. A local practitioner has access to the BCS Regional Multiple Listing Service and knows our marketplace. You can get more information about the market and the process at BCSRealtor.com.