It should come as no surprise that home prices in the U.S. remain higher than they were a year ago. According to Realtor.com, the median cost to purchase a house, $380,000, represents a 9% increase over prices from August 2020. Naturally, it's also quite a jump from 2019's numbers, when the median home cost was $309,000.

Despite this increase, however, real estate analysts see a slowdown in the year-over-year gains. In June of this year, Realtor.com reported almost a 13% jump from 2019. So perhaps the explosive, pandemic-fueled real estate market is beginning to correct.

So, where do we stand in terms of the bigger, broader picture? Industry experts who have been following the unprecedented trajectory of housing market movement in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic say that while the market is still hot, it's no longer extraordinarily so. In other words, we're back to—dare we say it?—normal. Sort of. The volatility has begun to wane, and real estate agents, not to mention buyers, may be more justified in setting their sights on a light at the end of this particular tunnel.

Much like nearly every other aspect of—well, life, the housing market came to a screeching halt in March and April of 2020, as communities around the world battened down their collective hatches. In those first few weeks of what would soon become our new reality, everyone's concerns were centered on quarantining, masks, and how to pivot from in-office work to remote. Not many of us were thinking about whether we should purchase a new house or buy up an investment property—and most of those who were held onto their checkbooks tightly while maintaining a conservative approach to their finances and the future.

Then, suddenly, the market erupted once again, thanks to a multitude of American city-dwellers pulling up stakes and heading for the suburbs and beyond, an increased demand for larger homes (with plenty of space for one or two home offices), and a remarkable scarcity of available properties, even at outrageously high prices.

Now, as we take hesitant steps to go back to school and the office, to take off our masks, and to return to socializing, the housing market is poised to settle down into the closest approximation of a normal cycle that we've seen for quite a while. Only time will tell, however, how this “new normal” will actually shake out.

It's no secret that the past 18 months have been tumultuous, even traumatic, for so many of us. Whether you're one of the lucky buyers who's ready to close on a new home, or you have had issues paying your mortgage and are facing foreclosure, The Law Offices of Melvin Monachan, PLLC, can help. Give us a call at (347) 389-1682.