Update: How's the Market?
Curious about the current market?
Wow! It’s already February and the days seem to be flying by. As we get ready for spring and say hello to the warmer days ahead, it’s a great time to look at what the market has done so far this year.
2022 was quite the year for mortgage rates. Rates jumped from record lows in 2021 to slightly over 7% in October. Many are questioning what the future holds for rates throughout 2023. Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist believes that as inflation pressures continue to drop, we will see lower mortgage rates. However, we don’t expect to see the 3% rates we were seeing, but the drop in mortgage rates is still good news for buyers. A drop in rates helps buyers boost their buying power by lowering the expected monthly mortgage payment.
Sellers are worried about homes staying on the market longer than they have been over the past year. But data shows that while home sales are slowing, they are still far above the norm. The most recent Existing-Sales report shows that over 11,000 homes sell every day in the US. It is also important for sellers to remember that inventory is lower than what it has been in the past. This gives sellers an advantage when it comes to competitive offers.
Let’s examine home prices. One thing that is true right now about home prices is that none of the experts agree on what will happen over the next year, but they do not predict a crash. If you look at before the pandemic from the fall of 2017 up until the spring of 2020, we saw about 12% home price appreciation in that two and a half year time span. If you think about the two and a half years going into this fall since the beginning of the pandemic, what did we see? A tremendous amount of appreciation across this country in residential real estate, 38%. Time will tell how the next few months will play out.
If you have any questions regarding market trends or if there is anything I can do to help you achieve your real estate goals, please do not hesitate to contact me.
