Why Buy Now?

All I hear in the news or discussion about the market right now is - RATES. EVerything is rate centric. It's rather boring to talk about and I’m no economist so I can’t forecast what's coming but I can tell you what is.

Over 60% of our business in the last year has been buyers. One question we have gotten a lot from folks that are not in the market right now and reading the press clippings is - WHY BUY NOW?

In order to answer that it's important to remember most buyers are sellers first. Why would someone sell in this market?

Dream house available
Owe nothing on it
Need the cash/equity
Circumstance has changed - job, marital status, kids, parents

Otherwise, you’re likely not selling. This is going to contribute to what we’ve been experiencing the last few years. LOW LEVELS OF INVENTORY. Only for different reasons.

First, If you bought within 2018 to 2021, your rate is likely half or more of what’s being offered today. Interest rates are rising and projected to get as high as double digits depending on what youre reading. Right now, they are still lower than the historical average (Between Apr. 1971 and Oct. 2022, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 7.76 percent. ), but much higher than when you bought it.

Second, Across the US, the largest demographic in the market is millennials. They are starting families, growing wealth, in their prime earning years, and (thanks in part to the pandemic) emphasizing home life and wanting to live more comfortably and functionally at home.

Third, we still are at about a month’s supply in most areas around the DMV. Because fewer people are looking to sell, and fewer folks are able to buy because of the rate increase, we will see a very restricted market in the immediate future. In addition to LOCATION, you know the old adage, It's going to really emphasize CONDITION. A property that is move-in ready is going to command so much more attention than ones that need work.

Regardless of what the interest rate is, people will always be buying and selling. How they do that will change. What people buy will change, what they value will change, the pace at which they do things will change. But there will always be life events that move consumers to buy.

Shane

Why Buy Now - Shane Hall - Compass