7 Key Things to Know About the Current Housing Market
It’s still stiff competition for homebuyers across the country as bidding wars and all-cash offers continue to price-out many in search of a new residence. In an article on current housing market conditions published by Bloomberg in late September, we found seven key takeaways and summarized them for you here.
Key Takeaways
Mortgage borrowers who can offer large down payments, telecommuters who can live and work from anywhere in the country, and all-cash offers from real estate investors have created the perfect storm for bidding wars—pricing-out many house hunters, and keeping renters from becoming owners. According to economists at Realtor.com, in a majority of cases in today’s competitive market, homeownership simply boils down to winning a bidding war.
Record-low interest rates that should’ve made homeownership more affordable ended up pushing prices higher as more homebuyers entered the market to compete for limited housing inventory.
Lenders haven’t substantially tightened standards throughout the pandemic, and homebuyers with low credit scores and little savings can buy homes with FHA or VA loans.
According to Bloomberg, a housing report in late September showed that prices for single-family homes in the U.S. jumped nearly 20 percent in July from a year earlier, which was the largest increase in over 30 years.
Many sellers are accepting offers from cash buyers, or from buyers with conventional financing who can waive inspections—and if their lender’s appraisal comes up short they can make up the difference.
In relatively affordable cities across the country, from Charlotte, North Carolina to places like Riverside, California, local buyers are getting priced-out of the market—thanks, in-part, to house hunters who have become remote workers untethered from office buildings.
Real estate investors and buyers looking for second homes currently make up 34 percent of all home sales in Tampa, Florida, 36 percent of sales in Las Vegas, and 41 percent in Phoenix.