President’s Message – January/February 2022

I look forward to serving the GCAR members as your 2022 president and am grateful for the opportunity.

2022 promises to be another challenging year for real estate professionals and for buyers as we continue to see low inventory levels.  According to the US Census Bureau, the homeownership vacancy rate is 0.9%; the lowest it has been since 1956.  This is the proportion of homeownership that is vacant and for sale.  The rental vacancy rate is 5.8%, the last time it was this low was back in 1984.  Built new inventory is at its lowest level since 1973.

This means for us that it is likely to remain a seller’s market for some time, with the multiple-offer situations that we have become used to expected to continue into the new year.

The booming housing market, along with energy and food has propelled US inflation, as measured by the CPI, to 6.8%, its highest level since June of 1982.

As a result, the Federal Reserve has indicated that it will begin tapering off securities purchases, and we may see several interest rate increases in 2022. The long-lived period of low-interest rates could slowly be coming to an end.

As REALTORS®, we know that we work in a cyclical market. There is no steady paycheck. Many of us have lived and worked through multiple up and down markets. As a group, REALTORS® are resilient and flexible and are known to have good people skills – all of which help us deal with changing market conditions.

In the years since I began working in real estate, I have gotten to know many fine people in our profession, who work hard in the business and still find time to get involved in community programs, and who also get involved in GCAR, serving on committees, and on the association’s board of directors. There are many opportunities open to members, and I would encourage you to look at some of them and volunteer for something that interests you.

The MLS staff and directors are constantly researching and testing platforms and technology to choose the best systems for its members.  One result is the recent switch to Flexmls, which has many new features that will help us to do a better job of marketing and selling.

Adding to the challenges, COVID-19 remains a threat for everyone, as multiple new variants appear and spread. Many of us are “Zoomed out” after prolonged virtual meetings. Especially in our business, we are aware that face-to-face meetings with clients who are buying or selling their largest asset are much more effective than virtual meetings. It is sure to be an interesting year!