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Act Decisively

Whether it is hesitation or procrastination due to uncertainty, it can cost buyers by having to pay more for both the house and the financing. This is one of those markets where most of the experts expect interest rates and prices will continue to rise through 2019.

The National Association of REALTORS® reports there is currently a 4.2-month supply of homes for sale which is close to the same as last year’s inventory. Normal inventory is considered to be a 6-month supply.

If during the period you’re waiting to buy, the price of the home goes up by 5% and the mortgage rate increases by 1%, the payment on a $275,000 home with a 95% mortgage could be $233.80 more each and every month. Over a seven-year period, the delay to purchase would total…

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Inventory Continues to be a Challenge

In any given market, inventories fluctuate based on supply and demand considering area and price range. The National Association of REALTORS considers a balanced market to be a six-month supply of homes.

If it takes longer than six months to sell, it is thought to be a buyer’s market and less than six months, a seller’s market. Most buyers and sellers probably feel a balanced inventory is more like three months’ supply of homes.

The inventory of existing homes has been reduced to approximately 1.5 million houses which is 10.3% lower than a year ago. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis there are 5.7 months’ supply of new homes currently on the market in the U.S.

Inventory has a direct impact on price. When demand is constant, but…

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What Would You Give?

Yogi Berra said he’d give his right arm to be ambidextrous. While most first-time home buyers are not going to that extreme, it is interesting to see what sacrifices are being made according to the National Association of REALTORS® 2016 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

• 43% – cut spending on luxury or non-essential items
• 34% – cut spending on entertainment
• 27% – cut spending on clothes
• 14% – canceled vacation plans
  9% – earned extra income through a second job
• 7% – sold or decided not to purchase a vehicle
• 44% – did not need to make any sacrifices

Forty-percent of first-time buyers experienced some difficulty during the mortgage application and approval process. Single, male buyers expressed a higher incidence of difficulty…

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Letter From the Heart...

Well we returned from visiting family in Salt Lake City to find a nice, thin veneer of the white stuff on the lawn and driveway. So the termination dust has made its way down to terminate what was a really great summer. The weather cooperated nicely for all outside activities. I hope you feel the same.

Just a note: We remembered to take our mowers in for a tune up around April, but sometimes that snow blower gets left for years without any similar attention. That is the case around here as Dave checked the oil in the little red beast before we left and it is coal black and the consistency of his coffee. It weighs about twice what the mower does, he will have to wait for our son Chris to help him get it into the Jeep but it IS going to the shop! Last…

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