What does the 2019 home buying season look like?
According to Realtor.com, rising prices, an influx of inventory and moderate sales pace will dictate the home buying season.
Let’s take a look at these segments.
Home Buying Update: 2019 Mortgage Rates Could Be Best Since 2005
Housing forecasts suggest the recent plunge in mortgage rates may help the home loan market surge to a 14-year high.
During March, mortgage rates have posted their biggest drop in 10 years. Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage market survey reports the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.08 percent just last week. Mortgage applications jumped 18.6 percent as a result.
Mark Watson, iEmergent’s director of forecasting, predicts $1.2 trillion in home lending this year, which would be the best year since 2005.
Additional good news for housing: The Federal Reserve announced in January that it does not plan to raise its short-term key interest rates again this year.
Home Buying Update: Rising Home Prices Impact Buyers & a Brief Look at Inventory
According to a recent Realtor.com survey, 38 percent of house hunters say rising home prices will have the greatest impact on their search.
In March, the U.S. median home list price rose to $300,000 for the first time ever, according to Realtor.com’s monthly housing trends report, marking a 7 percent price increase over last year.
Only 17 percent of buyers say they expect to offer more than the asking price this year for their purchase, which is down from 26 percent a year ago.
Nearly half of home buyers this spring are looking for homes priced at or under $200,000—the segment of the housing market that has seen the largest year-over-year declines, Realtor.com’s survey says.
Inventories for homes prices at $200,000 or below have fallen 7 percent compared with a year ago. Alternatively, only 6 percent of home shoppers are looking for a home at or above $750,000—the price range that saw the largest increase since last year.
“Affordability will remain the primary challenge for shoppers, particularly in lower price segments,” says Realtor.com’s chief economist.
Buyers are also expecting long searches, Realtor.com reported. The largest group of buyers say they’ve been searching for a home for seven months or more, followed by 26 percent who say they’ve been looking for four to six months.
