Should you wait on our current market?
Before I answer that question, I will summarize our market by focusing on three key factors: interest rates, home prices, and inventory.
If you have been following the market, you know that interest rates have been creeping up slowly month over month. If you are a buyer, every time rates go up it decreases your buying power. For instance, if you are looking to buy a $750,000 home and interest rates rise just an eighth of a point, you will no longer be able to afford that home. If you are a seller, every rise in interest rates reduces the number of buyers looking for your specific property.
Home prices are rising as well. Again, if you are a buyer, this means you will only be able to afford less as time goes on. As a seller, this is great news for your home sale’s potential. If you are looking to move up to a larger property after you sell, however, the price of that home is only going to increase too.
“If it makes financial sense for you to buy or sell now, go for it.”
Inventory is something our market’s been struggling with. Buyers love more inventory, but there aren’t a lot of homes to choose from. May, June, and July constitute our highest selling season, though, and this stretch is also the best time to buy a property, so you should see more homes coming onto the market. If you are a seller, this isn’t exactly good news. It means you will have more competition
So to answer the question of whether you should wait or not, it depends—as I have said many times before—on your situation.
To me, real estate is math. If you are a seller and you want to sell and buy, you want to calculate how much your home will sell for and how much that sale will allow you to afford for your next purchase. If you are a buyer, you need to talk to a lender before you do anything else so you know what you can afford. After that, dig deep and ask yourself why you are making the move to begin with.
After you look at the big picture and it makes sense financially for you to buy or sell, then I say go for it. We know what is going on right now, but we can’t predict the future. Prices may fall 12 months down the road, but interest rates may rise a full 1% during that time as well, which means you would pay more per month for a house you actually got for less.
As always, whether you are buying or selling, nothing replaces a great real estate agent. If you are already working with an agent, talk to them about these things. If you don’t have an agent, please feel free to give us a call so we can talk about how we can help you achieve your real estate goals.
If you have any other questions about our market or you have any other real estate needs, please reach out to me as well. I would be happy to help you.
