Home Sweet Loan

Thinking about jumping into the housing market? You’re not alone—especially with the recent shifts making it more enticing for buyers. But what’s really happening behind the scenes, and how should you play your cards? Let’s break it down.

First, for-sale home inventories are finally creeping back to pre-pandemic levels in some states like Florida, Texas, and Tennessee. This is big news because, during the pandemic, the housing market was hotter than a summer sidewalk, with inventory levels plummeting and prices skyrocketing. But now, with inventory levels rising, we’re seeing a shift that could spell an opportunity for buyers.

Nationally, active listings have jumped 36.6% from July 2023 to July 2024. Even though we’re still 28.7% below July 2019 levels, this increase is starting to cool off the intense price growth we’ve seen in recent years. More homes on the market means less competition and, potentially, more negotiating power for buyers.

And then there’s the mortgage rates. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate recently dropped to 6.4%, its lowest level since April 2023.

This drop actually sparked a 16% surge in refinancing applications last week, making refinancing applications 59% higher than this time last year.

But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves—many homeowners are still sitting on mortgage rates far below 6.4%, thanks to the ultra-low rates during the pandemic.

As for homebuyers, the cautious approach seems to be the name of the game. Even with more homes on the market and lower rates, so many are still holding out, hoping for even better conditions.

The big question is: are we on the cusp of a buyer’s market, or will rates and inventory levels continue to fluctuate? If rates drop even further, we could see a rush of buyers jumping into the market, possibly boosting prices.

Where does that leave us? Inventories are stabilizing, and rates are falling— good signs for buyers and sellers hoping to enter the market.