The housing market has been going through a substantial reset in most parts of the country over the last year. With interest rates high, is this a good time to purchase a home?
Interest rates are high and many homebuerys are sitting out right now. They are not even looking. They think that they will wait for interest rates to settle before they start looking for a home – along with the hundreds of thousands of other potential homebuyers.
Is now the time to buy a home?
Home values have settled in most areas and have come down tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. What happens when interest rates go down? Those thousands of homebuyers will start looking for homes and the challenge to get an offer accepted will elevate. It will become a bigger challenge.
With the Federal Reserve approaching the end of its cycle of raising short-term interest rates, long term mortgage rates are set to decline some in the coming months. Unless something unforseen happens, interest rates could be much better within the next few months. With that decline, more homebuyers will enter the housing market.
It is always best to have little competition in purchasing a home. If a home is on the market, but there are no potential homebuyers, the homebuyer has the leverage to the home sale. There is where you can possibly find a steal-of-a-deal when someone is anxious to sell their home. You could save tens of thousands of dollars.
This could work as long as you could afford the higher payment. When rates come down, you could refinance to a lower interest rate. This way, you could get a better price on a home and end up with a lower payment. That could be a better opportunity than waiting for interest rates.
Now could very well be the best opportunity to purchase a home through this interest rate cycle. When the numebr of buyers are down, is usually the best time to make a jump. Savvy consumers often make smart decisions when a good prospect is nearing the end of a down cycle.
The next month or so may be the best opportunity to purchase a house.