What's happening with the housing market?

What are we learning from recent news headlines? Interest rates are way up. Housing inventory is rising. It takes longer to sell a home. Sellers aren't getting top dollar offers in less than 15 minutes. Prices are crashing! The bubble is bursting! The sky is falling!

What's actually happening? Read on to find out...

Interest rates are way up: TRUE
Yes - interest rates have increased faster than they ever have since the early 1980s*. But that doesn't mean it's a bad time to buy.

Sellers aren't getting top dollar offers in 15 minutes: TRUE/FALSE
This depends on a few variables. Properties that are priced appropriately that are well positioned in the market still could go under contract quickly.

Prices are crashing: MOSTLY FALSE
Let's define a crash vs decrease. There are some areas and markets where we are seeing price reductions as a consequence of buyers pulling back. This gives sellers more motivation to drop their price to sell, and buyers a lot more negotiating power. But what we are NOT seeing is a 25%-30% reduction in prices.

The bubble is bursting: NOT LIKELY
What happened in 2008 is nothing like what is happening today, and we likely won't see any kind of foreclosure crisis. What we are seeing is a market being driven by true supply and demand, not artificial demand like 14 years ago. We are heading toward a market correction, not a catastrophe.

The sky is falling: DEBATABLE
What goes up must come down. There's a lot of space junk in orbit, and with a recent launch booster coming back home, you never know what might re-enter our atmosphere. Those who want to keep a closer eye on the skies instead of the housing market can track such things here: https://www.satview.org/spacejunk.php

Your Castle & Cooke Mortgage loan officer can give you the full picture of all your options in today's market. Contact them today or click here to find a loan officer near you.

*Sources: https://www.bankrate.com/real-estate/is-the-housing-market-about-to-crash/ and https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms