New Year......New Beginnings

December 2018 brought much change throughout the country: holiday time for many, strong stock market volatility and another Fed rate increase.  Overall our economy experienced 4 rate hikes in 2018 and December 2018 marked the ninth increase since the Fed began raising rates from near-zero three years ago.  Many predicted these rate hikes were coming in an effort to prevent prices from rising too fast in the future and to stabilize the market.  The Central Bank provided economic projections and their insights suggest there could be fewer rate hikes in 2019 than originally predicted as many members of the FOMC predict two rate hikes in 2019 rather than the projected three.  After a nail biting month of December, some confidence was restored to US markets in early January after a new report showed that the nations economy added 312,000 jobs in December, making 2018 the best year for job creation since 2015.  Data pulled from the San Diego MLS shows that there were 9.25% fewer homes sold in 2018 compared to 2017.  The perception is there is more inventory on the market however there has actually been less inventory but overall market times to sell homes have increased.  Homes continue to sell throughout San Diego county as buyers continue to chase the American Dream of home ownership.  Call me to discuss your real estate questions and goals for 2019.