Happy New Year and welcome to 2021. Much has been written about the last year by talented writers who possess great insight and an exceptional ability to express or persuade. This is not one of those letters. While I'm happy to have 2020 in the rearview mirror, nearly all of the issues that have created stress remain with us. We are still in a pandemic, the political arena is a mess, and divisiveness seems to be the order of the day (at least if you watch the news or follow social media). In reality, we are all in this together though so take the time to offer a kind word, hold the door for someone, and smile.

When the pandemic hit in March, I will confess that my stress levels went through the roof. The enormous uncertainty led me to have many nights of disrupted sleep and a constant high level of background anxiety. Yet despite my worrying, the real estate market was actually quite strong. March and April were of course very slow as everything went into a lockdown. However, over the balance of the year sales improved steadily and annual totals for 2020 surpassed those from 2019. Not bad considering everything that went on in 2020.

General consensus for 2021 is also quite positive for the real estate market. Expectations from a wide variety of sources point to increasing sales and moderate price appreciation. Mortgage interest rates should continue to be very low although there may be some increases later in the year. New construction is also expected to be strong with increased building activity over last year. This is needed to try and fill the void created by record low inventory levels of available existing homes. Unfortunately, there are also shortages of building materials and qualified trades which hampers efforts to increase production. These supply limits are expected to continue leading to price increases and frequent multiple offer situations.

For those of you considering whether or not this might be the right time to buy or sell you are correct, it might be. Many factors should be considered when making this decision and we would be happy to help you make the best decision for your particular needs. For those of you not considering making a move this year please keep us in mind for others you may know who we could assist. The vast majority of our business is from repeat or directly referred clients and we appreciate the faith you have placed in us over the years.

In closing may I wish you all the best for 2021. I hope that you and those around you stay safe, healthy, and that we all have a less "interesting" year. With any luck we may all be able to gather again this year, go to restaurants and sporting events, have parties, and hug!

With gratitude,

Rives Bailey, Kelly Faillace, John Farmer, & Christy Fiebert