Marry the house date, the rate, marry the house date, the rate. This is something that if you spend any time on social media, and you’ve even dipped your toe into thinking about real estate, you’ve probably heard or seen someone say. It’s a phrase that I kind of hate because I think it minimizes the whole experience and doesn’t really talk about all of the nuances, but let’s unpack it a little bit and look at that phrase in terms of the current market, and why it might be worth digging into a little bit.
So simple economic principles, say if inventory is low and demand is high prices are going to go up, we have been in a historically low inventory situation in housing in the entire country for a while now. And that will continue for a while longer. So while the high interest rates have sidelined, some of the I’d like to buy a house people, there are still lots of people who actually need to buy a house and it has not sidelined them. So there’s still a good amount of demand, and not a lot of inventory on the market, which means prices will likely continue to rise, despite the fact that interest rates are high. So while they are expected to go down in the probably first/second quarter of 2024, they will first of all, maybe never go back to 3%. So if you’re waiting for that, like as my father used to say, if you’re waiting for that you’re backing up. You’re not going to get anywhere, because that’s very unlikely to happen. But even if they go down, when they go down, those prices are not going to go down at the same time. Because obviously, interest rates go down, those prices are going to go up because all of those I’d like to buy a house people are going to come back into the market. So demand will go up, and inventory is not going to change radically. And those prices are going to continue to escalate. So if you’re thinking about buying and you are particularly renting in the meantime, if you can afford it, if you’re ready, buying now is probably going to be a better financial decision than paying rent until six months or a year down the road, when maybe rates are lower, but prices will almost definitely be higher.
So if you’re thinking about buying or you think, you know, hey, maybe I’ll buy a house in the spring, I’m going to save up more money, or whatever your thought process is. If you’re thinking of buying anytime in the next six months to a year, give me a call, and let’s talk, break down the numbers, look at what the projections are for the area and the type of house that you’re looking at, and the price range. All of those things go into figuring out these numbers, but I’d love to talk to you. I’d love to help you determine if now is the right time or if it’s the good time to wait and help you make those calculations that fit your personal finances and life plan.