How about some GOOD real estate news for a change?

According to research from Mike Simonsen of Altos Research, published in HousingWire, the housing market may start to be coming back to life, despite mortgage interest rates still flirting with 8%.

Here are some data points which paint a rosy picture.

Inventory is inching up. There are now 562,000 single-family homes on the housing market. That’s up 1.5% from just last week. In South Hampton Roads, we have 2,442 active listings, which is up 3.5% over this time last month.

The new listings decline isn’t as steep as a year ago. Yes, there were only 53,000 new listings (single-family homes) unsold last week nationwide, plus 10,000 more new listings that are already in contract. There are far fewer sellers now than in any recent year. In Hampton Roads, new listings are ONLY down 9.9% month-over-month, but that's much better than the year-over-year contraction of 17.4%.

Soaring mortgage rates stifle buyer demand. All right, the average mortgage rate is toying with a full 8%. Here's the deal: as mortgage interest rates increase, those who really need a home are quite serious. Those who truly need homes and those who find their dream home — and this includes our recent clients who are 30-plus-year financial professionals as well as seasoned real estate veterans — are willing to suffer the temporary pain of a higher interest rate. And they are buying with a plan to  refinance in six to twelve months, perhaps more frequently as the mortgage market changes.

Price cuts! Price reductions are on the rise, to the tune of approximately 38.9% of the homes on the market nationwide taking a price-cut while on the active market. That said, home prices are still 2% to 3% above last year. This speaks not only to a national trend of micro-markets rising and falling, but also to other markets, such as Coastal Virginia staying strong over time. The median price of single-family home in the United States is now $434,950. In Hampton Roads, the median sales price is up 7.2% over last year at this time, holding strong at $330,250.

The Bottom Line

Inventory is up. But so is the mortgage interest rate. Demand is down. But so is competition. Perhaps the most famous investor in American history, Warren Buffett, is credited with saying "Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy only when others are fearful." There's a lot of fear in the real estate market right now. Will you be fearful? Or will you be greedy?

When you're ready to make a great move, Johnson & Burge Real Estate will be here. We've been here for nearly twenty years. We've got you.