As Flowers Bloom, Housing Markets Do, Too!

Local Housing Market Not Really Yoked to Wall Street

Wall Street, Our Street: Different Kinds of Thoroughfares

Even though the housing market looks as certain to rise as the spring shoots, behind that optimism is the perenniel question about whether another “dip” is coming — a lot of which has to do with Wall Street. 

Remembering how 2008’s economic downturn saw the housing market and stock market take blows pretty much simultaneously, it’s not far-fetched to assume that the two markets always move together. And while some folks are emboldened as stocks soar to record-level heights, for others, the same phenomenon causes altitude sickness. What goes up must…well, you know the rest! 

Historically, the housing market and stock market are hardly inextricably joined. Nor should that be a surprise. On the one hand, the housing market reflects a real good (as ‘real’ as it gets!) — something that carries intrinsic utility. That won’t change until people figure out a way to exist without shelter. 

Stocks, on the other hand, represent participation in ownership of a venture, and a share of financial gain (or loss) from its success. Both markets are influenced by some of the same factors (employment, inflation, etc.), but to different degrees. It’s widely agreed that the direct influence of one on the other waxes and wanes.

So when anyone thinks about whether a dip is coming in the stock market, and whether that should influence their real estate thinking, I’m pretty certain that the answers are less important than the more measurable effects that buying or selling a home will have on their day-to-day living experience. With positive housing market data continuing to arrive (like the recent rise in land values — up 13% last year; the first annual gain in eight years), it’s hard not to agree with the majority of economists that the positive housing market trend is likely to keep going for a good while longer.

If you are considering selling your home and want to explore the housing market in Salt Lake City and Beyond this April, give me a call.  Regardless of what each market is doing at any given time, I keep the latest up-to-date statistical and local neighborhood information available for my clients.