The 2018 holiday season has officially begun! We hope you are as excited as we are. We’d like to take a moment to express our gratitude to all of you this Thanksgiving. We have met some truly wonderful people, and we’re proud to have helped so many reach their real estate goals over the years.
We wouldn’t be where we are today without all of your support.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner with all of your family and friends— that’s what we plan to do!
In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any real estate questions. We would be happy to help you. Happy Thanksgiving, Jan Leasure
The average mortgage
rate is at a seven-year high. Is this what’s behind the shift we’re seeing in
the market?
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate currently stands at around 4.77%. That's near a seven-year high, and almost 1% higher than just a year ago. This is the result of a steady rise starting last September and ending this May.
What impact is this having on the real estate market? It's certainly true that affordability is down. In fact, one estimate from June found that home affordability is at a 10-year low. This is translating into fewer home sales, fewer viewings, and fewer mortgage applications.
However, I don't believe that the shifts in the mortgage rate is the primary mover of the changes we're seeing in the real estate market. In fact, even at its current level, the mortgage rate is still historically low.
Instead, the big reason for the changes in the real estate market is the ongoing growth in prices. Over the past several years, home prices have gone up at close to twice the rate of inflation, and have far outstripped the growth of incomes.
The price increases, in turn, have been caused by a lack of inventory, which has been shrinking for the past three years. In my opinion, it’s this lack of inventory (and the resulting hike in prices) that explains most of the effects on the real estate market that I listed above.
If you're looking to sell, you should still have no trouble doing so. Demand continues to outstrip supply, and even with dropping affordability, it's very likely that you would find a buyer quickly and at a top price.
If you're looking to buy, the picture is more complex, because it's so hard to predict what the mortgage rate might do in the near term. One thing we do know is that the severe lack of inventory is unlikely to change any time soon.
As always, if you have questions about the (area) real estate market, whether you're buying or selling, you can give me a call or send me an email. I'm here to help.
Do you want to buy a house, but aren’t sure you can cover the down payment? Let’s talk about some down-payment assistance programs that may be able to help.
Down payment assistance can be the difference between saying “yes” or “no” to a first home. If you are interested in buying a home but don’t have cash on hand for a down payment, or if you have a son, daughter or any other friend or family member who would like to purchase a home but doesn’t have cash for a down payment in the state of Illinois, there are several government programs that can assist you in securing a down paymentfor your new dream home.
The First Home Illinois ProgramThis program offers a forgivable loan of $7,500 to buyers who will live in their new home for at least 5 years. This program will discontinue in December 2018, so to take advantage of this down-payment assistance opportunity, your home loan must be originated by December 15, 2018.
Even though this program will be discontinued for much of Illinois past 2018, there are other down-payment assistance programs that will be available moving forward into 2019 and beyond: - A forgivable loan of up to $6,000, with the amount based on the total price of the home, forgivable after 5 years. - A $7,500 deferred program. This loan is repaid through a second mortgage the buyer doesn’t make payments on, but is reimbursed when you sell your home. - A $10,000 no-interest loan repaid through a monthly payment of $83 for 120 months.
