Current real estate news - Most Frequently Asked Real Estate Questions

One of the most frequent real estate questions we get recently is what the market is doing in light of interest rates. Everyone who has their eyes on residential real estate is hyper sensitive to rates, the job market, inflation, and what the future holds. And for good reason.

Here are some of the current stats for what is actually happening. Average mortgage interest rates are in the high six percent range. New mortgage applications are remaining fairly constant but there was an uptick in refinance activity compared to last week. There is quite a bit of conjecture surrounding how many fed rate cuts there will be this year. In December, the Fed predicted about three rate cuts to occur during 2024, but then in an interview with 60 Minutes Chairman Powell divulged that not much would be happening soon, citing a March rate cut unlikely. Some experts believe there may be up to five or six rate cuts by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, believe it or not median sales prices are up 5.4% since last year at the same time. New listings are up by about 7 percent, but pending home sales saw a pretty large decline of 8 percent over last month. Another metric that measures home tour activity shows that tours are 6% busier from January to now compared to last year during the same timeframe. Warmer weather is predicted to increase both pendings and tour activity.

Housing affordability dropped to 15% of households qualifying to purchase the median-priced California home of $833,170. This is down from 17% a year ago. To put this in perspective, in 2012 during the first quarter, the affordability index was 56%.

Sources for the above: CNBC, HousingWire, Redfin & California Association of Realtors.

If you're currently thinking of selling your home, you likely have quite a few questions. Once the rain is behind us, the home selling process is fairly straightforward. Clients who are planning to sell soon are not basing their decisions on market rates and stats - the beginning of 2024 will see more real estate moves and decisions being made based on family and lifestyle decisions. If you have any real estate goals you'd like to discuss, we're happy to help you talk through them to make the decision that is right for you & give you a more thorough picture of the home selling process.

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