The Mark Gunning Team: November 2016

Are you thinking of buying a home?

Do you have your down payment ready and your credit in check?

Do you know how much you can safely afford and what areas you might want to live in?

If you answered yes to most the questions above, then this winter might be the best time for you to purchase that new home.

Why?

Well here are a couple reasons that this winter might be the best time in US history to buy.

Interest rates are still very low, but they are threatening to increase soon.

Kiplinger is reporting that bond rates went up from 1.8% to 2.1% the day after our presidential election in anticipation of new policies from President-Elect Donald Trump.

Wages are now growing at a 2.8% annual rate, which also indicates a tightening labor market. The only reason the Fed would hold fire is a meltdown in the financial markets, but that does not appear likely now.

The Fed is on track to raise interest rates on Dec 14^th 2016. They are also reporting that in 2017 we can expect up to two more interest rate hikes.

Expect interest rates to rise gradually after December 14. They will be more volatile now, as fears about the deficit wax and wane. But unless those concerns deepen considerably, rates should show only a modest uptrend. Read the rest…

Spring is typically the busiest season for home buying and selling, while winter is the slowest.

This means while the selection of homes might be a little less, sellers can be more motivated to work a better deal with you.

Also, mortgage lenders who are competing for your business in this lean season, will probably work harder for you as well and you might walk away with a better loan package.

Since there are less buyers looking in winter months, homes listed for sale lower their prices, especially the motivated sellers.

buy-a-house-in-arizona

Be on the look for people who are being transferred to another state and must move fast, or estate sales which happen when somebody passes and family members are looking to sell fast.

Make sure you have your real estate agent set you up with MLS alerts so when new homes come on the market you can run out and look them over.

Also, Craig’s list is a good place to check for homes for sale.

A lot of times the sellers themselves will list them there and leak the reasons they need to sell.

Having been in the Phoenix area real estate market for many years, I must say that this winter might be the best time in history to buy that new home.