Home Prices Aren't Coming Down
The average age of homebuyers is at an all-time high
In 2024, we had the fewest homes sold in the US in over 30 years. And home prices still went up in our region as much as 10% year over year. Considering inflation, millions of homeowners locked into a low interest mortgage, and the overall trend with interest rates, it’s difficult to see how that would reverse any time soon.
Sure individual areas or homes may decrease in value, but the overall Puget Sound Market is up, up, up. It would take a flood of inventory to stabilize or drop prices significantly for single family homes.
In 2020, local buyers were (rightly) complaining about how all the houses in my own town were “unreasonably priced” at $450k or $500k. All those same houses today are worth $200,000 more.
Whether due to inflation or housing market forces or both, it’s wild to think that in just a few short years, say in 2030, we’ll probably look at 2025 prices as a screaming deal.
This does not necessarily mean that “it’s a good time to buy”… it means that buying a house and homeownership are changing. A couple of stats that I saw this week.
In 2024:
the average age of a first time homebuyer was 38 years old. In 1984, it was 29.
the average age of all 2024 homebuyers was 56. In 1984, it was 36.
It used to be the average homeowner moved every 7 years. I expect that stat to increase dramatically before the decade is out. I’ve always believed homeownership was best played as a long game and it’s even more true now.
Michael Perrone is a licensed managing real estate broker in Washington State and is the owner of The Perrone Real Estate Group. You can reach his office at 425-224-6040 or by subscribing and responding to these newsletters.