Time to Buy?

Now that we are in 2023, let’s look at how the residential real estate market finished up last year for Cobb County, GA (where I live and work):

December of 2021 had 1996 houses for sale, Dec 2022 had 2263. A 13% increase.

However, in Dec 2021, 1010 houses sold and in Dec 2022 only 462 sold. That is a big drop.

The average price of those house sold in Dec 2021 was $426K and in Dec 2022 it was $452K, up 6%

The final number to compare is Days on Market (DOM) or how long it took on average to sell those houses. Dec 2021 was 24 days and Dec 2022 was 48 days. Twice as long to sell.

What does this tell us?

More houses are being listed, it is taking longer to make a sale, but they are selling for more than they did a year ago. Is this a good time to sell? Yes it is. You will make more than you would have last year but you are going to have to negotiate when you have a buyer in front of you. Is this a good time to buy? Yes it is. Prices and values are going up  at an average rate and sellers are willing to work with you to get a good deal for everyone.

But what about interested Rates?

For the past few years, the Fed policies had kept borrowing interest rates for banks at 0%; an artificially low amount. This affected everything from the cost to borrow money; like for a mortgage, to where investors went to find good returns on their investments.  Now the market is starting to normalize and investors are moving their money around and the banks that sell mortgage-backed securities have to offer a rate of return on their product that investors are interested in putting their money into. It will take a little more time for the market to level out to a new normal.

For now and the rest of the year, the interest rate for a mortgage loan is either going to go up, go down, or stay the same. No one has a crystal ball, but:

If they go up and you buy a house now, you have saved money on your monthly payments verses waiting a year to buy. Plus, your house will probably go up in value too.

If they go down, you will be paying more per month than if you had waited a year. But if you wait to buy, the price of the house may have gone up and you are no better off. And if the rates do go down after you buy, you can look at refinancing to the lower rate. Some lenders are even offering a free refinance option if you get your loan now.

Regardless, it looks like the price of the houses is still trending up; just at a slower rate than the past year or so. Do some googling for Cobb County or any Metro Atlanta area and see if you can find a news story that predicts that our housing prices are going to drop. If you find someone that says that, send me the link. What you will find are dozens of stories about how strong this market is. Even national stories about the Atlanta Metro area being one of the strongest real estate markets in the country.

What do you need to see to convince you that 2023 is the year to move from renter to homeowner? Now, today, it is time to make a plan to buy in the next three, six, or nine months. I can help you with creating a plan to move you into homeownership and start building life changing wealth in 2023. Don’t sign another lease for your $20,000 a year rental house/apartment without at least exploring your options.