-National Market Update. Market trends move very fast. Did you know buyers are back in action and just under two months ago, we were at a lull nationally and things seemed to have slowed down? But the buyers are taking action once again. Hi, I’m Rich Barnes, owner broker of Realty Experts in West Allis, Wisconsin, and we’re seeing multiple offers right now and in some cases, bidding wars. Home prices both nationally and right here locally in Milwaukee and surrounding areas are going up due to high demand. Things are moving again. Across the nation, in every region right now, as compared to this time last year, we’re seeing buyer activity increasing. In the west, as much as 21%, and the same is true with sales as compared to this time last year. Sales are up nationally almost 11%. Let me repeat that sales and buyer activity are up in every region as compared to this time last year. Here’s what’s interesting if you look at the stats according to National Association of Realtors, you can see that there are a few states that have heavy seller traffic, and the top brass at realtor.com said, “The market is struggling with a large housing undersupply.” The number of homes for sale are poised to reach historic low levels. Nationally, we only have three months of supply of inventory of homes to sell, meaning currently, it would take only three months to go through all the inventory in the market. Inventory hasn’t been this low since 1993. What does this mean and how does it affect the market both nationally and here locally in Milwaukee County as well? With lower inventory, meaning not as many homes to sell and higher demand, means more buyers than we have homes to buy. When we see this type of market, it generally means that prices increase. Also, an important note to take is that interest rates are also anticipated to go down. Barry Habib, who is one of the most accurate real estate forecasters feels that rates are going to continue to go down, possibly even into the twos. We’ve got an election and other factors to contribute to this. So that means the market should stay very strong. So if you’re sitting on the fence to buy because you thought housing prices were going to go down, that’s not looking to be the case. And if you’re thinking about selling with lack of inventory, now’s a great time. If you have any questions both community and real estate-related, or anything at all, we here at Realty Experts are here to help, so feel free to reach out. Thanks and have a great day.