2024 Real Estate Outlook

Do you know Chris Lynch? Founder and president of Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Realty, I’m the lucky one behind the camera capturing this brilliant human and bright smile — and the very best boss. He’s featured in MaineBiz (Maine's weekly business journal) this week sharing his predictions for the year ahead.

“I am very optimistic about the Maine real estate market for 2024,” Lynch stated. "It is shaping up to be more of a return to the conditions we were enjoying during the pre-pandemic 2018-19 time frame. We will continue to experience an abatement of the unique conditions and circumstances that caused a nationwide feeding frenzy with respect to asset allocation, resource relocation and revived focus on living for today.”

“There is no longer a buyer group which feels the need to escape from the big cities,” Lynch told MaineBiz. “With lots of government stimulus money still on the sidelines feeding inflation, it has become more difficult to access. The Federal Reserve Bank has reversed its easy money policy with a relatively harsh tightening course of higher interest rates. More offices are bringing employees back into the office to increase productivity and accountability."

“Lastly, many home sellers who have remained on the sidelines due to lack of inventory and/or the comfort of holding a 3% mortgage, will find that they can now afford to sell their home and find a new suitable home than has been previously out of reach.”

In October, when mortgage rates surged to a recent high of 8%, Lynch said that was a “showstopper for both buyers and sellers.”

“The home affordability measures were so far out of whack that it seemed like it might take a prolonged period of time to get back to something more tenable,” he said.

We’re now looking at mortgage rates closer to the 6.5% range for qualified buyers.

“Although that seemed extremely high on the way up in September, it actually looks quite attractive on the way back down for 2024,” Lynch said.

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View the full article here. Lead photo by Tim Greenway