Luxe Austin Homes - rates

"This Fall’s Latest Housing Stats Are Hiding a Surprising Upside for Homebuyers"

Realtor.com writes that, "Although the fall season is traditionally the best time of year to buy a house, homebuyers out there right now might not feel that way—and for good reason.

We looked at the latest real estate statistics in our column “How’s the Housing Market This Week?” We found that this year’s seasonal high point for buyers is up against some strong headwinds—including skyrocketing interest rates, soaring inflation, and overall economic volatility not seen since the Great Recession in 2008.

“Early fall is usually the best time to buy,” says Realtor.com® economist Jiayi Xu in her analysis, adding that the most optimal window of opportunity for homebuyers nationwide just passed last week.

However, she continues, “as inflation…

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"Why Are Homeowners Seeing Prices Drop?"

U.S. News reports that, "for just about any homeowner, talk of falling home prices can spark panic. With homeownership being the major financial and personal investment it is, there's a natural anxiety that comes with any potential threat to that investment.

However, housing market activity to date does not show a year-over-year decline of home prices – at least not yet. While some data sets show small month-to-month home price declines, month-to-month data is more volatile and does not signal a drastic shift in the market on its own.

There is a marked deceleration in home price growth due to a combination of already high home prices, high mortgage interest rates, low housing inventory and economic uncertainty on a larger scale.…

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"How High Can Mortgage Rates Possibly Go?"

Realtor.com writes, "higher mortgage interest rates have taken a battering ram to the housing market.

Since the start of the year, mortgage rates have more than doubled. They’ve blown past all expectations, nationally exceeding 7% by some estimates. The possibility that rates could continue to rise has struck fear into the hearts—and bank accounts—of many stressed-out homebuyers.

The simple, and dispiriting, math: Every time they tick up, fewer buyers can qualify for loans—and those that do often can afford to buy only much cheaper homes.

So how high could rates go? The answer depends largely on how the economy fares. If inflation persists, the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep raising its own interest rates and mortgage rates will likely follow…

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"Buyer Bargains: Here Are the 10 U.S. Cities Where Home Prices Are Dropping the Most Right Now"

According to realtor.com, "The inconceivable is happening. After two-plus years of unimaginable and seemingly inexorable growth, home prices are falling from their heady peaks over the summer.

The reason: Higher mortgage interest rates have thinned out the ranks of buyers who can still qualify for a home loan and sharply reduced the price of the homes the remaining few in the market can afford. Gone are most of the frenzied bidding wars and six-figure offers over the asking prices. Homes are now sitting on the market longer, inventory is piling up, and sellers—at least in some markets—are cutting prices.

Ironically enough, they tend to be the areas that fully dominated the real estate market during the COVID-19 pandemic, with big influxes of new…

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"Mortgage Rates Lowest in More Than a Week"

Mortgage News Daily writes, "We're measuring our mortgage rate spikes in terms of years and decades at the moment.  Progress in the other direction has been elusive--especially since the beginning of August.  Since then, mortgage rates haven't been able to string together any sort of winning streak lasting more than a few days.  On a slightly broader note, we haven't been able to say "lowest rates in 2 weeks" in almost 2 months now. 

If the present stability continues, we'll be very close to breaking that curse over the next few days.  Today's rates weren't markedly different from yesterday's, but both days are much better than last week--especially the 20-year highs seen on Tuesday.  During that time, the average lender moved back down from the…

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"It’s the perfect starter home. But it’s only for rent."

"Adam and Tahnya Gaston arrived in this Austin suburb in June with a toddler, a dog and enough money for a down payment. But within days they scrapped their plans for buying a house, deterred by soaring home prices and rising mortgage rates. Instead, they’re paying $4,000 a month to lease a three-story house in a new development aimed squarely at renters.

As the housing market sours, families around the country are eschewing homeownership and turning instead to new homes in rental-only developments such as the one where the Gastons landed. When completed, the Oaks on Chisholm Trail will have 113 stand-alone homes, each with a kitchen island, two-car garage and tiny plot of lawn — all exclusively for rent.

It’s one of…

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Adjustable-rate mortgages are on the rise, but borrower profile has changed

Adjustable-rate mortgages are more popular this summer than they've been since right before the Great Recession.

The share of mortgage applications for ARMs rose to 12.6% in June before they dipped to 12.2% in July, according to an analysis by Seattle-based Zillow Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ZG). It's the first time since August 2007 the share of ARMs among mortgage applications has been more than 12%.

While that could trigger some alarm bells, the conditions today — including lending standards — are very different than the years leading up to the housing crash of the late 2000s, said Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow.

"It's something to keep an eye on but, at the moment, it doesn’t look concerning to us," Tucker said. In the years leading up…

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Something big is happening in bubbly housing markets

Even before the lockdowns were eased, white-collar professionals who saw their jobs go remote were ditching their apartments in places like Seattle and New York City for homes in markets like Austin, Boise, and Las Vegas. That rush of homebuyer activity, of course, saw home prices absolutely skyrocket in those markets. In Las Vegas alone, the Pandemic Housing Boom pushed home prices up 49%.

That boom is over now.

Across the country, housing markets are cooling down. Home sales are falling. Multiple offers are drying up. Homebuilders are scaling back and offering buyer incentives. But every aspect of the cooldown is more intense in markets like Boise and Austin. Simply put: Pandemic boomtowns are getting hit the hardest by the Pandemic Housing…

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Are house prices going down?

After U.S. inflation cooled more than expected last month, you may be wondering whether or not the housing market is cooling off. The answer is yes — but with an asterisk.

The median sale price for a home in June 2022 was $428,400, an 11.2% increase since the same time last year. Even though this is a double-digit increase in prices, it’s also the smallest year-over-year increase “in nearly two years,” Redfin market analyst Tim Ellis says.

Data indicates that while U.S. home prices decreased 0.4% from June to July, other factors are still impacting home affordability. Even though home prices remain high, Ellis says the market is balancing out due to a variety of factors, including higher mortgage rates and decreased demand.

Redfin data shows…

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Housing economists: Mortgage-rate volatility likely to level off even with Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes

Despite an interest-rate hike of three-quarters of a percent by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, and additional increases likely still to come, some housing economists aren't expecting another big surge in mortgage rates now or in the coming months.

A recent slowdown observed in the U.S. housing market has largely stemmed from the sudden jump in mortgage rates felt in late spring and early summer, in line with the Fed's decision to move up interest rates in an ongoing effort to combat inflation.

Existing-home sales declined for the fifth straight month in June, down 5.4% from May and 14.2% from the prior year, according to the National Association of Realtors. Unsold inventory was at three months' supply nationally in June, up from 2.6…

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