It pays to keep an open mind if you’re considering whether to enter the property market to upgrade your home, downsize or make your first purchase.
Rising property values and mortgage costs have made real estate a difficult market to read for some buyers.
Media reports of stellar, 30%-plus growth in cities such as Nashville and Salt Lake City should always be balanced by the less breath-taking results, such as those achieved in Hartford, CT (2.4%) and Baltimore (3.7%).
It’s essential to be accurate with your research and the data you apply. Focus only on results in your target neighborhood and filter them with the size and style of the relevant property. Even then, you’ll only achieve an approximation of value.
The best approach is to seek an agent’s appraisal of value and their reading on the neighborhood real estate scene.
The ultimate factor in deciding whether to buy or sell should be your personal circumstances. It will always be an excellent time to buy if you’re confident of long-term employment and can afford the price tag or mortgage costs associated with a purchase.
Don’t try to over-read the market, attempting to pick the moment it might peak or trough, as nobody can do that with guaranteed accuracy.
Even economists disagree. Zillow’s experts believe values will be flat for the next 12 months, while Fannie Mae predicts a drop of 1.5%. Below are a few of the latest nuggets relating to the real estate market last month, as reported on realtor.com.
- The median average price is $427,000, a year-on-year rise of 13.3%.
- America has now recorded double-digit annual growth for 41 successive weeks.
- The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.92% in October, says Freddie Mac.
- Inventory is up 31% compared with this time last year. In part, this is because homes are staying on the market longer.
- The average time to sell a property is 50 days, 7 days more than last October. The pace of sales has been slowing for 11 weeks.
- New listings are down 15% compared with October last year, which is the 14th week of year-on-year declines.