Last Saturday, while media attention was largely fixed on preparations for a pleasantly warm-weather New Year’s eve in Times Square and predictions about the year to come, it was also the moment for backward-looking “roundups” of 2022. Joining the crowd was Realtor^® Magazine, offering its look at how residential real estate fared throughout last year. For all who follow residential real estate in St. Cloud, there were no surprises in its “5 Trends That Defined the 2022 Real Estate Market.”

The five points were valid enough, but they were preceded by a simple sentence that summarized the most conspicuous aspects of St. Cloud’s year: “Housing was on a roller coaster [in 2022], going from a homebuying frenzy to a standstill.” Perhaps “standstill” is an exaggeration, but the overall movement was hard to disagree with. In brief, here are Realtor’s five trends:

1.      The housing slowdown.

2.      The mortgage rate “shocker.”

3.      High appreciation. Home prices across the country began to ease, but even so, in most areas appreciation continued at a reduced pace.

4.      Remodeling boom. Twenty-two percent of homeowners explained that their top motivation for remodeling was ROI: return on investment.

5.      Fear surfaces. Economists have “been quick to offer reassurance” to the contrary, but their clarifications of the difference between the housing crisis of a decade ago and today’s market have been largely unheard by a sizeable minority. One study (from LendingTree) surveyed Americans and found that 44% feared a housing crash in 2023.

As the 8^th-grade history teachers remind their pupils, “January” is derived from the Roman god of transitions. “Janus” is the one represented by a double-faced deity looking backward and forward at the same time. While NAR’s ‘5 Trends’ did a fair job of the backward-looking roundup, let’s hope that this year Janus will preside over a gateway to trends that are propitious for residential real estate in St. Cloud—one that prompts you to call me in 2023!        

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