Mortgage rates are high in the U.S.
Mortgage rates are high in the U.S. and housing inventory is tight, some experts believe the housing market has begun to thaw this spring.
Home buying began to pick up during and after the holidays, despite high U.S. mortgage rates.
Sales of existing homes rose 3.1% from December to January, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Meanwhile, the inventory of unsold existing homes rose 2% from December to January, totaling about 1 million at the end of last month, slightly expanding buyers’ options.
“Although home sales remain considerably below those of a couple of years ago, January’s monthly increase is the beginning of increased supply and demand,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, said in a press release on Thursday, Feb. 29.
-Mortgage rates are high in the U.S., but there is hope.
Even though mortgage rates are high in the U.S., a wider supply should help meet returning demand and avert the risk of a new housing market overheating.
In recent years, limited housing inventory and low interest rates had frozen the housing market.
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Many homeowners who would otherwise be eager to sell have been hesitant to get out from under so-called golden handcuffs that represent mortgage interest rates as low as 2% or 3%.
According to experts, this is beginning to change, although interest rates are now much higher and have returned to over 7% in recent weeks.
Latinos are the only demographic group with eight years of growth in the housing sector.
“Markets are recalibrating to the reality that the Fed is not going to lower interest rates right away,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.
Many buyers and sellers are beginning to accept that “we’re not going to go back to 3% and 4% mortgage rates” anytime soon, implying that high mortgage rates in the U.S. will remain.
Many related factors
In many cases, lifestyle factors – such as people without children at home who want to downsize or expanding families looking for more space – are driving people to flip homes, rather than waiting for more advantageous deals to arrive.
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Experts expect buyers to be a little heavier this year compared to last.
On high mortgage interest rates in the U.S.; Zillow data shows that one in five homes for sale took a price cut in January.
While the typical home was on the market 29 days, more than during last year’s buying frenzy, but 19 days less than the pre-pandemic average.
Sellers may increasingly realize they need the help of a real estate agent knowledgeable about local trends to keep their homes from sitting on the market too long, Freedman said.