{"id":1417,"date":"2022-12-17T09:53:21","date_gmt":"2022-12-17T09:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/17\/home-prices-just-hit-a-turning-point-after-nearly-a-year-but-will-buyers-miss-it-amid-the-holidays\/"},"modified":"2022-12-17T09:53:21","modified_gmt":"2022-12-17T09:53:21","slug":"home-prices-just-hit-a-turning-point-after-nearly-a-year-but-will-buyers-miss-it-amid-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/17\/home-prices-just-hit-a-turning-point-after-nearly-a-year-but-will-buyers-miss-it-amid-the-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Prices Just Hit a Turning Point After Nearly a Year, but Will Buyers Miss It Amid the Holidays?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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While many homebuyers might be taking a break from their house hunt to indulge in some eggnog and holiday cheer, the few stalwart home shoppers still out there right now have a fantastic opportunity on their hands.<\/p>\n

Want proof? Home price growth fell to 9.5% for the week ending Dec. 10, down from 10.3% for the week ending Dec. 3. And that shift to single-digit growth is significant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis slowdown marks the first time in 49 weeks, nearly one year, that median home prices have advanced at a single-digit pace,\u201d explains Realtor.com\u00ae<\/a>\u00a0Chief Economist\u00a0Danielle Hale<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>in her weekly\u00a0analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just home price growth dropping as 2022 comes to a close: Mortgage interest rates also dipped for the fifth week in a row.<\/p>\n

So what might happen for the rest of the month, and once 2023 officially rolls in? Our weekly column \u201cHow\u2019s the Housing Market This Week?<\/a>\u201d breaks down the latest real estate statistics and what it all means for homebuyers and sellers.<\/p>\n\n

A breakthrough in home prices<\/h2>\n

\u2018Tis the season for reflection, so why not take a look back at the roller-coaster ride of home prices this year?<\/p>\n

In June, the median list price for properties peaked at $449,000. That price fell to $416,000<\/a> in November.<\/p>\n

In the grand scheme of things, home prices remain high. Yet the recent reduction in price growth to 9.5% \u201cmarks a significant slowdown from peak growth earlier this year<\/a> when listing prices were growing at a nearly 18% year-over-year pace,\u201d says Hale.<\/p>\n

The downward trend in mortgage rates<\/h2>\n

In late October, mortgage rates hit a 20-year high of 7.08%<\/a> for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. This record-setting rate meant many buyers could no longer afford the same home they could have a year earlier, so many called off their search.<\/p>\n

Yet for the past five weeks, rates have declined, sinking to\u00a06.31% for the week ending Dec. 15, according to Freddie Mac<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s home shoppers have the benefit of mortgage rates that are three-quarters of a point lower<\/a> than early November\u2019s high<\/a> thanks to recently favorable inflation readings,\u201d says Hale.<\/p>\n

Yet despite these downward trends, many buyers still seem to be abstaining from market activity. So why aren\u2019t home shoppers taking advantage of the one-two combo of slowing home prices and lower mortgage rates?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether holiday cheer or a still dismal view of current housing market conditions<\/a> is the bigger driver of the pullback is an open question,\u201d says Hale.<\/p>\n

Housing supply balloons as demand slows<\/h2>\n

One metric that didn\u2019t fall last week was the number of homes buyers had to choose from.<\/p>\n

The number of homes actively for sale for the week ending Dec. 10 was up 55% compared with a year ago, indicating that home shoppers are taking their time to make an offer\u2014if they make one at all.<\/p>\n

What wasn\u2019t up was the number of new listings, which decreased by 16% for the week ending Dec. 10 compared with a year ago. This marks 23 weeks in a row that sellers declined to add fresh listings to the housing supply. Many would-be sellers don\u2019t want to give up their low mortgage rates by selling their homes and having to get new loans to purchase their next properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs new listings dwindle, rising inventory signals that the pullback in demand is even larger,\u201d says Hale.<\/p>\n

Indeed, homes lingered on the market 10 days longer for the week ending Dec. 10 compared with the same time last year. And smart sellers entering the market will want to take note of the rising number.<\/p>\n

\u201cHomeowners seeking to sell in this market will need a dose of patience to go along with a smart pricing strategy that takes local market conditions<\/a> into account,\u201d adds Hale.<\/p>\n

Is it better to buy in 2022 or 2023?<\/h2>\n

As the housing market resets in response to inflation, buyers are finally regaining the upper hand. But for how long remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Over the past year, mortgage rates reacted to the Federal Reserve\u2019s efforts to bring inflation under control. When the Fed raised its rates, mortgage rates followed the upward trend. And chair Jerome Powell<\/strong>\u00a0indicated at the Fed\u2019s latest meeting there was still work to do to tame inflation, which suggests that \u201cshort-term rates will remain elevated higher for longer than previously expected,\u201d explains Hale.<\/p>\n

And what does that mean for homebuyers in the new year?<\/p>\n

\u201cOur expectation for 2023<\/a> is that rates will climb higher before falling in the second half of the year,\u201d adds Hale.<\/p>\n

Hale also predicts that the number of homes for sale in 2023 will be \u201crelatively low<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

So if you\u2019re a homebuyer who isn\u2019t too weighed down by holiday obligations, the next two weeks before the clock strikes midnight on 2022 might be a fantastic time to put in an offer on a home.<\/p>\n

The post Home Prices Just Hit a Turning Point After Nearly a Year, but Will Buyers Miss It Amid the Holidays?<\/a> appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com\u00ae<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getty Images While many homebuyers might be taking a break from their house hunt to indulge in some eggnog and holiday cheer, the few stalwart home shoppers still out there right now have a fantastic opportunity on their hands. Want proof? Home price growth fell to 9.5% for the week ending Dec. 10, down from…Read More→<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}