An apartment in Yorkville just broke records ... but that's not our reality. What we really care about is that 2018 brought us the worst real estate market since 2008 and nineties... and opportunity abounds. In contrast to the last major downturn (after the 2008 financial crisis), this one has not been forced upon us by a specific event; it has been a natural correction, the first in a decade. It started approximately 2 years ago and has gradually brought us to this point.
With the slowest January since 2012, for those loving to predict the market (which is impossible to do), we are nearing a bottom. The only issue is that once it is identified as so, we will already be well on our way out of it. What will that look like? For one, sellers will get a little of their swag back. They will begin to recapture some of their lost leverage...but not yet. With lower closing prices now trickling in from this past year, there will be continued pressure on sellers to price properly. It sets up the perfect scenario for buyers now armed with data to support more realistic (lower) offers...and establishing the new normal.
However, buyers must realize that, although they currently have leverage, the numbers show that it's actually not by much... :-)