Prediction: Real Estate Market Will Remain Hot
by January 4, 2016 12:00 am 87 views
Nicky Dou, 2014’s top-ranked residential real estate agent according to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, said the market should be hot for at least the next couple of years.
Coming from an agent who sold $29.3 million in 2014, and who backed that up with an estimated $40 million in sales in 2015, that assessment sounds valid.
“New construction is really hot right now,” she said. “The builders are wanting to build, build, build.”
While Dou is confident looking two to three years into the future, she’s not so confident looking four to five years down the road.
“I’d be a little nervous to do that,” Dou said.
An agent with Keller Williams Market Pro Realty, Dou said established subdivisions like St. Valery Downs and Shadow Valley, while still attractive, are now facing competition from subdivisions like Versailles, which are essentially brand new.
The lure of big sales has flooded the market with new agents, an increase of about 9.1 percent, from 1,766 to 1,928, through 2015. Appraisers, still thinking of the recession, are conservative with their values.
“If you’re looking at the big picture, that’s probably a good thing,” Dou said. “They are being conservative.”