Higher interest rates and lower
inventory have many homebuyers and some
sellers on the sidelines right now.
But many Denver area Realtors say the summer
market is showing signs of picking up.
Our real estate expert joins us live this
morning to explain Lane Line as a realtor
and managing broker at Coldwell Banker.
Thanks for coming in. Morning,
Cory. Thanks for having me on. Really
appreciate it. All right,
so let's start with a big question.
Interest rates, when are
they going to come down?
Oh, I know. You know,
it's probably the single most
question amassed every day.
And the answer is hard to
come by the many experts.
They are on the same page when
they think about the fact that as
long as inflation remains higher,
the likelihood of mortgage rates coming
down significantly in the near future,
not real likely.
We're going to have to wait it out,
at least for now.
The good news is though is that there
are opportunities if you can afford the
higher mortgage rates with your payment.
We're seeing people get creative right now.
We're seeing a lot of cash
buyers coming into the market.
We're seeing buyers who are financing.
Figuring out ways to bring
down that interest rate,
those programs are still out there,
those rate buy down programs,
oftentimes sellers will be asked to
help with those and they are helping.
So it really is important to look
at your options with your lender
and talk to a mortgage professional.
Now the other part that I want
to make here Corey is that when
we think about normal.
We are probably more normal with our
interest rates now than we were the
last couple of years during the pandemic era.
We were in unusual,
not normal, not sustainable.
We were sitting here talking about that.
So we're correcting now.
We're not surprised.
We may have to accept.
That this is how it is and even though
it's higher than that unusual time,
it doesn't mean a bad thing.
The rates were so low at
that one point in time.
And so the question is you know
a lot of home buyers owners took
advantage of those lower rates.
How is it infecting inventory now?
Well, we are seeing an impact in fact
Redfin just did a study that shows
that there are 40% fewer homes on the
market today then there were five years
ago and a big reason is just that
homeowners love their mortgage rates,
they bought a refinanced.
When they were 2 1/2 percent, 3%,
they're not moving right now and
we're feeling that here in the
Denver area now about 25% of those
homeowners say we will entertain the
idea of selling if those mortgage
rates come down into the 5% category.
So that's kind of that magic number.
We're in the upper 6,
lower 7% range when we get to
that magic 5% category.
We're not exactly sure.
One thing we do know is that we
anticipate some increased demands and
pent up demand because there are so
many people waiting it out right now.
So that again speaks to my theory that
if you can afford the the payments right now,
get in now.
Enjoy the having a house
when everyone else needs one,
you'll be refinancing
because then the worry is
when those rates come down,
you've got the bidding wars again.
Here we go. Yeah, we've been there.
We've been there, man.
All right, So give us some
pointers that people are thinking
about planning to sell their
house or buy right now. Sure
it is OK to do it this summer.
In fact, I would say for sellers,
make sure you're asking your realtor what's
going on in your particular neighborhood.
The metro area is so large that market
trends can vary depending on where you live.
And we are seeing pockets of
town getting multiple offers and
selling within a couple of days.
So price correctly,
look your best inside and out,
make sure that landscaping is perfect.
It's all green right now, perfect time.
Also, staging inside is really important.
Buyers think outside the box.
Explore those financing options and
if you're not finding inventory,
you might consider new construction.
Remember when all those home builders were
having trouble with supply chain issues?
A lot of those issues have been worked out,
and many builders right now are
offering financing incentives,
which means if you use their lender,
you may be able to get a better interest
rate than if you bought a resale home.
So keep that in mind.
Bottom line, Cory, let's,
let's put the panic button away.
Have a good summer.
We've got to ride this out a
little bit longer.
And the other question I get a
lot is winter price is going to
come crashing down or will they
and you need inventory to do that.
And as I mentioned, we just don't have it.
Don't you wish you had a crystal ball?
You could just tell everyone
what's happening in the future?
Yes, I'm going to get back to you on that.
All right, Lane, as always,
thanks for coming in. Got it.