New home price data shows prices are actually in some key markets, even as they rise in others.
In southern towns, such as Phoenix, Tampa, other cities in Texas, Florida and the Carolinas, prices are down, while some cities in the Northeast and Midwest — especially New York and Chicago — are seeing significant spikes.
Overall, an index that measures house prices across the country – increased 1.9 percent over a one-year period. But over the last two months, the direction has reversed and prices have come down.
I spoke to several experts for a story today on Marketplace, and they said the takeaway is that there’s a shift happening.
Once-hot markets are seeing substantial discounting, especially with newly-built homes where builders are figuring out ways to bring the costs down, such as by buying down the mortgage rate you’d pay.
All of this is because inventories, the amount of homes available for sale, have risen by a third since the beginning of the year, as new home inventory has come onto the market — especially in once hot areas of the country — and homeowners who have been waiting for mortgage rates to come down in order to list their properties are finally giving up waiting and putting there homes up for sale.
This all adds up to the possibility that if you have the ability to get into the housing market, you could find deals, especially if you’re flexible about location. The caveat is that mortgage rates are still far higher than before the pandemic. They’ll probably come down over the next 12 months, but they won’t return to pre-pandemic levels.
For the savvy shopper, there’s a window of opportunity – where you could buy now at a decent price and refinance later.
Should you wait for prices to keep falling? Maybe.
But the experts I talked to did not expect that prices will keep declining for a prolonged period. They’ll just go up again at a slower pace.
InterArts Fresno 