Stock Market Gains Turning to Real Estate

It appears that some of the money captured by investors in the especially bullish 2017 stock market may be redeployed into real estate in the near future.  Many people believe that we are near the end of this market cycle on Wall Street, and those who have the discipline to remove gains from stocks are seeking alternative investments.  Real estate is an obvious use for that, since cash has been returning virtually nothing over the past few years, and bonds have been lackluster in many cases as well. 

We are therefore seeing heavy demand for investment properties of all stripes, and are having trouble finding enough to fulfill the interest generated.  Our hope is that baby boomers who are often selling, relocating, or retiring, will put new buildings and parcels onto the market in the coming months, as it is more likely now that such offerings will sell.  Even users are more inclined to purchase, as they too are looking for a safer return.

The message here?  It's a great time to consider liquidating an underutilized or unwanted real property, and maybe a last chance to get into a new property at somewhat lower prices.

Election Pause?

Many real estate professionals claim that there is always a hiccup in the market before an election, as people try to figure out what will happen in either scenario. It's not clear to me that it's happening this time, although you couldn't have a starker contrast between two candidates than we are being presented with this time!

One thing that is clear is that interest rates are never lower than before an election, especially in a presidential election year.  This time is certainly no exception, and that should spur action under any vision of the future.  Over the long run, it matters more what your interest rate is than what you pay for the property, within a certain range. 

Besides, how do we even know which candidate Wall Street will favor?  Hillary has most of their contributions, and Trump is a businessman, like most of those running big companies.  Either one should have their fair share of support, meaning that the stock market should not react wildly to either outcome. 

Well, here's one time when I'm clearly on the line, since we only have two weeks to go, before we find out what happens.  In the meantime, go forth and buy or sell--you should be fine, in any event!