We've been talking about this for months, but it's finally happening. Interest rates are going up. The latest rates are almost half a percent higher than they were a couple of months ago. What does this mean?
First of all, the cost of owning a home with a mortgage goes up when the interest rates rise, meaning that fewer people can afford to purchase a home. It also indicates that, in most cases, buyers can afford to pay less for the same home, since they will qualify for a lower mortgage amount. In a buyers' market, which we are in now, that burden falls on the seller in large part. So, if you are selling, you will almost always receive less for your home when interest rates are higher.
In the larger sense, it could also mean that we are past the bottom of the market. Mortgage rates generally start to rise when things are starting to improve. Some of that is a signal from the stock and bond market that inflation could be a worry, and part is that the government will stop holding rates down if demand increases.
So, just as people often try to time buying an airline ticket to wait as long as possible to buy a non-refundable ticket at the lowest price, and frequently hesitate just a little too long (as I recently did....), you may already have waited past the point where you should have bought that property. Just don't wait any longer. Once things start to turn around, prices can move quickly. Consider this your warning!
