30-year mortgage rates are near 8% with excellent credit. Interest rates have climbed for the past three months straight. The Fed is considering another interest rate increase for November and December, possibly pushing rates up to 8.5% or even 9%. The reasoning is that higher interest rates will "slow down inflation".
Home sales are at a 13-year low. Factor in the higher cost of insurance and the fact that property taxes are going up to unaffordable levels and the very high cost of labor and materials for home construction... and you have a real estate market that's going to crater.
I personally know several homeowners that had their homes listed for sale, but have removed them from the market in the past 2 months. They will wait and hold on to what they have for now. One real estate agent mentioned to a couple that they should keep their house off the market until at least middle of next year and then decide based on market conditions.
I'm suggesting that the U.S. economy is a three legged stool... and one of those legs is housing and private & commercial real estate. If it fails, the economy goes into a deep recession at best.
Not at all what the vast majority of us have experienced. Homes in my city are easily doubled in price since 2019 across all price ranges. They have not dropped yet at all. Many other places I have visited, the exact same thing is going on.
Questions to ask:
Are the homes actually selling and are they selling for the list price. Are the homes selling in less than 30 days or does it take 6 months or more. Are there economic conditions driving sales such as expanded industry in the area. Has the area seen a lot of growth in new housing construction. Have you looked at housing 20 miles away from where you decided to look.
Again 1% of the geographic area of nation will continue to see high prices. I spent a lot of years working with people who wanted to live where everybody else wanted to live and had to pay the price or look elsewhere.
Same here and I live in Chiraq.