What’s with the rates and inventory?

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I hope this gives you some information on a recurring basis about the market and how things are going. This week we continue to see an upward trend in rates and a reduction in the area in listings. These two things actually become synergistic when you have a market like we have, meaning inventory remains low because those sellers don’t want to buy another house and pay the inflated rates. This causes everyone to struggle, because first time homeowners can’t find a home, when they do they are in competition with several others that drive the price up. How do we combat this and how long does it last? That’s the million dollar question and if anyone actually knew this, they would be incredible. S

Spring tends to lead to more inventory, with families moving while summer break is in and kids are out of school. More inventory will help with prices and hopefully stave off the inflated rates some. Most in the industry believe rates will cool some and land in the 5’s somewhere, which would be very helpful to most buyers and remaining there long term will likely return the market to some sense of normalcy. But with this said, if you are in the market to sell and have to ability to purchase somewhere, now is the time, while the prices are still high. You can purchase something now, and likely refinance with so many lenders offering no charge refinancing in order to take advantage of the lowering of rates to come.

What can we do now with first time home buyers that are paying inflated prices?  My angle has been to go in a little higher but ask for closing cost help, thereby keeping any cash you might use on a home purchase in your bank (cash is king), and still allowing you to get the house. Going in higher has it’s challenges too though, with making sure you can still get it to appraise at that new price and don’t have to argue to get the price reduced. This direction has helped multiple clients get into a home at a price they can afford and still having the refinance to look forward to and further reduce their payment in the future.