Buyer’s and Seller’s Market Trend

WILL PRICES CONTINUE TO RISE

In March, home prices rose 3.7 percent year-over-year, with a 1 percent change from February. The average home price is projected to rise 4.8 percent this year, the report shows. In high-priced markets, more than three-quarters (76 percent) of home buyers and renters believe prices are pushing up rents, according to our research.

MORTGAGE INTEREST RATES ARE PROJECTED TO INCREASE

First-time buyers could soon have a harder time obtaining a home loan. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will begin implementing stricter standards for loan approvals, possibly impacting about 50,000 loans annually. The FHA typically ensures consumer loans with lower credit score and down payment minimums, allowing more home buyers to qualify for home ownership. The FHA backing provides lenders with assurance against these less-than-ideal borrowing standards, reducing the level of risk they take on.

EITHER WAY, YOU ARE PAYING A MORTGAGE

To be sure, many younger consumers cannot afford some of the homes on the market now, as prices keep going up in some markets. For- sale signs aren’t flooding the landscape, so the lack of available homes remains a problem. In some cases, too many buyers continue to be chasing too few sellers. Lower interest rates would make payments more affordable and offset some high prices. But the drop in mortgage rates won’t solve all problems.

IT’S TIME TO MOVE ON WITH YOUR LIFE

Economic gurus got one part of the mortgage forecast for 2019 correct. We’re certainly seeing a volatile year for rates. What they didn’t see coming: Mortgage rates tumbled in March, the biggest one-week fall in a decade.

Now—instead of seeing mortgage rates edge closer to 5.25 percent, as some had predicted we’d see in 2019—we’re looking at an average 30-year rate near 4 percent.

The rate drop comes just in time for the spring home-buying season and will make monthly payments less expensive.

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