With mortgage rates climbing toward 5%, there may be some effects on the housing market, particularly since spring and summer are the peak seasons for home buying in many states.
On this latest episode of “You Have Real Estate” with Attorney Justin Clark, Orlando-area Realtors Rose Kemp and Eric Mock discussed what those higher interest rates are doing to the market.
Here were three key questions that were addressed:
Are the higher rates reducing the number of buyers?
Kemp said she hasn’t seen “anything slowing down at all” within the market, and if anything, buyers are motivated to find homes quickly in order to lock in a good rate before they go up.
Kemp said a house that got 15 offers last year would likely fetch about 25 offers this year.
“The rates are fueling up this fire, and the buyers are out there in a frenzy,” she said.
What should buyers be doing right now?
Kemp said it’s important to secure a home as quickly as possible, which means there might have to be some sacrifices for buyers when looking.
“Don’t be locked down to a specific area, because inventory is so low right now,” Kemp said.
Mock said there is one item that is a must for buyers before looking, or else they won’t have a chance to buy a home.
“You have to have the pre-approval (letter),” he said.
Is it a good time for buyers to simply look without being serious about purchasing?
Mock said given how fast homes are going under contract, only serious buyers should be in the market right now.
“If you are kind of in this ‘looking’ mode, don’t enter the buying market,” he said. “We’ve seen houses go off the market in hours.”
For more information, watch the video above.