If you’re tracking real estate like we are, you’ve seen in the news the Federal Reserve is likely to raise the fed fund rate by .75% to 1%..Yikes!!!. We don’t always know how that will translate to the mortgage rates, sometimes it affects them and sometimes not as much. I’m anticipating a bump in mortgage rates in anticipation of rate hikes.
What happens to housing in Cape Coral when mortgage rates go up, how can people afford to pay their mortgage???
I remember in 2005 I saw home prices starting to jump and then buyers shifted to using adjustable arm mortgage, and I thought, what if the rates go up and it cost buyers more money. I remember being concerned because I knew many of the buyers I was working with wouldn’t be able to afford a higher payment. At that time I was fairly new to real estate, only a few years in, never in a down market, I thought the banks must know what they’re doing since they are making the loans and they’re big smart companies, they must know a lot more than me. As it turned out common sense eventually ruled the day, homes prices corrected, people lost them like crazy. As rates continue to go up buyers monthly mortgage payment shoot up.
A $500k home at 3.5% in January 2022 = $2,245 mortgage payment just principle and interest.
A $500k home now at 6.24% in September 2022 = $3075 mortgage payment, just principle and interest, THAT’S $830 A MOTNH DIFFERENCE!!!
Buyers are dropping off because they can’t afford it. So…. who is buying homes? Everyday we go forward less and less. Give it time, each interest rate hike takes about 4 months to adjust in the market. I anticipate in 4 months from now, Cape Coral will have a lot more price reductions, homes will sit for longer periods of time not selling. I’m already seeing HUGE price reductions and homes sell for way under list price. Be patient, lots of options are coming in the near future.
What’s the best way to stay informed of the Cape Coral housing prices?
I’ve watched real estate markets around the country for years, Realtors subscribe to the Multiple Listing Service aka MLS. The MLS has the best, most accurate data and allows agents to set up automated searches for buyers and sellers. Its simple, we offer FREE UNLIMITED MLS SEARCHES, your agent enters your search criteria into the MLS and anytime a home meets your needs, it will auto email you. If you’re seriously considering buying or selling, I highly recommend you set up 3 searches:
Search #1 Active MLS automated search – You will be emailed every new listing. If you’re a buyer, you can see what’s coming on the market and for how much. If you’re a seller you can see what your competition is listing for and how they look.
Search #2 Pending MLS automated search – You will be emailed every home that goes pending. This happens once a home is listed then gets an accepted offer and waiting to close. You’ll be able to see homes you like and how fast they are moving to pending. As a buyer if you see they are selling fast, you’ll want to move fast on homes, if they are moving slow, then you can take more time. As a seller it will help you get a realistic expectation how long it will take you to sell your Cape Coral house, so you can prepare for your transition.
Search #3 Sold MLS automated search– You will be emailed of all the homes that have sold in your criteria. As a buyer this will help you see what a home was listed for and then what it sold for, this will educate you on the market you’re watching. As a seller this will give you a realistic list price of what you should be listing your home for.
If you set these 3 searches up and follow them for 3 months, you will be extremely informed what’s happening in the Cape Coral housing market or any SWFL market, or any market for that matter. The best part…. it’s free!
Cape Coral Real estate data is usually 60-90 days behind
If you list your Cape Coral home today, let’s say September 14th 2022 and it took 60 days to sell, sell on November 22nd and scheduled to close January 15th. When it closes on January 15th the data is from November 22nd when it sold that day. Let’s say it listed for $500k and after negotiations it sold for 470k, that was in November and recorded in January 15th after it actually closed, the sold data is always delayed. This is why we have to watch active listings, they will give us the best indication of real time. If we see home prices coming on the market at lower prices or price declines and continue to see sold recorded at lower than list price, then we know the market is trending down and waiting to buy or offering lower than list price is a good strategy.
Recap
If you’re a buyer, be patient, don’t FOMO (fear of missing out) as the interest go up, mortgage payments go up, people afford less, this puts downward pressure on demand and eventually drops home prices. Remember it lags and takes time, real estate trended up for about the last 10 years, it may trend down for a while, years. People use the word “Cape Coral real estate crash” but it doesn’t crash in a moment it trends up or down over time, usually years. It went up fast for 2 years, it could come down quickly too, quickly in real estate is years. The more markets spiked the quicker they are falling, Autin Texas for example.
Reach out to us and get set up on a free MLS automated search, you can have as many as you want. We have past clients who watch the market just to know what their neighborhood is doing and have no intention of buying or selling they are just watching for fun. This will keep you informed, its free, you can modify searches as your needs change and if you don’t want to watch the market you can end the search.
If you’re a Seller -you may want to sell sooner than later or you could find yourself chasing a downward market. Stay ahead of your competition in price, be the best value to sell quickly at the time you list.
Thanks for reading
