• With interest rates backing off in the last few months more people are interested in buying a home in the Queen City.
• The buyers are still here. The number of people moving here continues to grow. It’s still a very popular market since interest rates have started to come down….That also means demand could pick up sooner rather than later!
• There’s a lot of buyers that would have waited until March or April,” Hoffman said. “They’re starting to pull the trigger now, if the home is flawless if the home is priced right.”
• If a home is not flawless, opportunities can still be had with a little sweat equity. Homebuyers will save some cash if they don’t mind making some upgrades to a property after moving in.
• ATTENTION!! The rest of 2024 sales will include homes that are in great shape and sell fast, and sometimes even in bidding wars. Then homes that need work are just going to keep going down, below market value. This opens the buyer pool up some, if you cannot compete in bidding wars don’t be discouraged, search for homes that need some sweat equity and been on the market 30+ days and buy below market value! There are a few home loans that will roll renovation costs AND the home loan all into one!
• On the seller’s side of the coin, I recommend that sellers not put their homes on the market unless the home is already turnkey.
• I’m going to encourage sellers regardless if they’re ready now or if they want to wait, I would encourage you to watch your neighbors, If your neighbor goes on the market, hold off until it sells. Less competition will make the home sell faster.

Instant Reaction: Mortgage Rates, January 28th, 2024

This week, there is a lot of good news in the housing sector. For the sixth consecutive week, mortgage interest rates stayed in the range of 6.6% and are now at 6.69%. Home buyers are responding to the lowering of mortgage interest rates, and foot traffic (according to SentriLock, LLC., a lockbox company) improved—increasing 5% year-over-year in December. Mortgage applications are also encouraging, with applications up 3.7% from a week prior. New home sales also increased.

For a home buyer shopping for a single-family existing home, the median home price was $387,000 in December. The median price for a new single-family home was $413,200. A buyer purchasing an existing home with a 20% downpayment would have a median monthly mortgage payment of $1,996. A buyer purchasing a new home with a 20% downpayment would have a monthly mortgage payment of $2,131.

There is no question that 2023 was a rough year in housing, but there are plenty of reasons to see optimism in 2024. Lower mortgage interest rates will have buyers and sellers reconsider sitting on the sidelines. Family changes, new jobs, and retirements have happened and will continue to happen, and housing consumers will need to find new locations and homes that fit their lifestyles…continue reading