Buyers and Sellers Ask: How will changing interest rates affect my plan to move?

 Breathing a collective sigh of relief at the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025, buyers and sellers will increasingly enter the housing market. The four-and-a-half year wait for the Fed to cut the cost of borrowing money has ended.

 WHAT WILL RATES BE?

It’s hard to say. The Fed does not set mortgage rates directly, but they will drop as the Fed’s half percentage point works its way through the economy. Remember mortgage rates have already dropped from an 8 percent high a year ago to the current 30-year average of 6.6 percent.

 A BUYER’S POV

Buyers prefer low interest rates so they can spend more of their housing budget on a house and less on the cost of financing that house. A high interest rate can price a homebuyer out of their preferred market or even out of the housing market entirely.

 A SELLER’S POV

Supply and demand shift with more Buyers, and more Sellers, entering an active market. Recent low supply has driven up the cost of homes to record highs. Now experts predict a stabilizing of home prices as more Buyers have more homes from which to choose.

 AN EQUINOX POV

You are an equinox if you hope to sell and buy as the housing market heats up again. Hopefully, your move will be a win-win situation for you. The standard rules of selling and buying will be as important as ever. Prepare your home for market and price it appropriately. Know the market where you are relocating. If you are moving nearby, one team can help you with a seamless transition. If you are moving a distance, hire a topnotch agent in your new area. Expert representation will get you home.

 REMEMBER YOU CALL THE SHOTS

You can approach the selling – and buying – process confidently, armed with up-to-the-minute data and a great team of agents in the Adam J. Baldwin team.