2018 was the year of recovery for the national housing market, with homeowners enjoying peak payout when unloading their properties. In fact, sellers haven’t seen this much profit from sales since 2006, right before the housing market crash. In 2018, sellers saw an average 32.6 percent return on their properties, which translated to an average profit of $61,000 at closing, according to ATTOM Data Solutions.
As in years past, homeowners along the coasts saw the biggest bang for their investment, with West Coast sellers netting the largest returns on investments. Todd Teta of ATTOM explains, “While 2018 was the most profitable time to sell a home in more than 12 years, those along the coasts reaped the most gains. However, those are the same areas where homeowners are staying put longer. The economy is still going strong [there] and home loan rates remain historically low.” Inventory remained low in many of the high demand areas of the country through December of 2018, creating a tough buyers market and netting sellers near historic profits.
Looking to the future, Teta believes the housing market will cool down in 2019. “There are potential clouds on the horizon. The effects of last year’s tax cuts are wearing off as limits on homeowner tax deductions are in place and mortgage rates are ticking up every so slowly, so this could dampen the potential for home price gains in 2019.”