As a new administration transitions into the White House and the Fed continues to play with interest rate cuts, many home owners and potential home buyers are left wondering what impact it will have on the housing market. Very little, according to some experts. Freddie Mac reports the current 30-year fixed interest rate range remains between 6.08%-7.44% over the past 52 weeks. Potential buyers and home owners looking to refinance should expect the lower end in 2025 but no significant drop.

2024 saw a record-high for cash buyers, who made up 26% of the market. The year also saw a record-high for median age of first-time home buyers, rising to 38 years old. As buyers navigate inflation, interest rates, and cash flow availability, many are tapping into alternate sources to complete home sales. 25% of buyers used a gift or loan from a friend to purchase, 20% took out money from financial assets, and 7% used inheritance money.

Multi-generational households rose to 17%, an all-time high, which means that many families are pooling resources to make homeownership more affordable. Single women made up 24% of the market compared to 11% of single men.

The Bucks County Association of Realtors reports the median sales price throughout the county is $500,000, up 6.4% from October and a 13.4% increase from November 2023. Homes have sat for an average of 25 days, up one more day than the 5-year average. The association also reports less competition for homes this year than last year, which is a positive sign for buyers. Contract ratio, which measures how many buyers are competing for the same home, was 1.04 buyers per home in November, up from October’s 1.03 but down from November 2023’s 1.16 and significantly down from the 5-year average of 1.44 buyers per home.

At the national level, Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors, reports that home sales should rise in the coming years. The 3% year-over-year gains in 2023 and 2024 are a sign that the housing market should improve. He predicts existing homes sales to rise by 9% in 2025 with new homes sales up 11%. In 2026, he sees existing home sales to rise 13% in 2026 with new homes sales tapering to 8%.

From this time last year, half of the highlighted markets exceeded 2023 sales while the other half fell slightly below the previous year, but the average percentage shows a 6% increase from 2023 totals. In all of the markets, except Doylestown Township, homes have been listed at higher prices than in 2023 with an average increase of 8.1%. Homes in Newtown Township and Plumstead Township have listed for significantly higher than in 2023. In all but Doylestown Borough, sales prices have gone up. Plumstead Township and Horsham Township have seen significant rises in sale prices, 16% and 10% respectively.

Homes in the highlighted markets are generally spending more time between listing and closing. Houses in Doylestown Township have seen the biggest change in time on the market, reaching an average of 36 days in 2024. Homes in Plumstead Township, to go along with rising sale prices, have spent fewer days on the market, a 21% difference, which means this is one area that still remains a seller stronghold. Doylestown Borough has also seen a slightly less than 30% decrease in days on the market but sales prices have also decreased by of over 2%. As a whole, the highlighted markets average a 7.8% increase in sale prices from 2023 to 2024 while spending just over 5% longer on the market, which is consistent with both local and national trends.

Breaking down the first half of 2024 versus the second half of 2024, home sale prices in the $300,000 to $800,000 range went down in Newtown and Horsham, which saw decreases of 8.3% and 6.5% respectively. Plumstead saw a 4.8% increase, Doylestown Township an 8.6% increase, Doylestown Borough a 7.3% increase, and Warminster dipped 1%, for a .8% average increase among the six markets. Houses in three of the markets (DT, DB, and PT) sat fewer days in the second half of the year while Newtown and Warminster followed the local and national trends. Newtown’s and Warminster’s numbers show a balancing market toward the end of 2024 with decreases in sales prices and more time spent between listing and closing.