What’s Up with Real Estate?
National news and local views for the week ending Friday, June 2, 2023
Peter Kedzior
The latest national news and local market states.
National Real Estate News
Home prices rising again
The Case-Shiller national home price index rose 0.4% month-over-month in March, after rising 0.3% MoM in February. 15 out of the 20 largest cities posted MoM price gains. Even hard-hit San Francisco flipped to positive home price growth after 10 months of decline. “March’s results suggest that the decline in home prices that began in June 2022 may have come to an end.”
Will Fed ‘skip’ rate hike?
Two bits of good news helped bring mortgage rates back below 7%. First, a last-minute agreement on the debt ceiling eliminated the worst-case scenario (default). Second, several Fed members said publicly that it might be prudent to ‘skip’ a rate hike on June 14 to give more time to assess inflation & employment data. ‘Skip’ doesn’t mean ‘stop’, of course, but it’s progress nonetheless.
Not ‘locked-in’
Want to move but feel ‘locked-in’ by your current, low (3-4%) mortgage rate? Remember that the equity you’ve built up in your current home can help you make a bigger down payment on the next one, there may be opportunities to consolidate higher-cost debt and lower your total monthly payments as part of the move, and you can always refinance if rates move down significantly in the future.
