Home inventory has remained low and buyer demand has remained disproportionately high. The increase in Federal Reserve interest rates has led potential homebuyers to turn to the rental market, making a tight market even tighter. This causes both buyers and potential sellers to wonder where they stand. The main driver of the slowdown is the increase in mortgage rates.
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate, which is by far the most popular product today, accounting for more than 90% of all mortgage applications, began this year at around 3%. It's now just above 6%, according to Mortgage News Daily. This is a quick assessment of the real estate climate entering the fourth quarter of the year, a time when experts anticipate a further slowdown in sales, higher rates and greater uncertainty for both buyers and sellers about what to do next. According to existing trends, the New York real estate market will be extremely active during the peak homebuying season.
There is still a significant amount of market activity from buyers who are willing to pay in cash or have huge budgets and pay little or no attention to rising interest rates. This isn't the real estate market for April or May, so buyer traffic will be substantially slower, but well-priced homes continue to sell quickly, he says. Andrea Riquier is a New York-based writer who covers mortgages and the real estate market for Forbes Advisor. If mortgage and refinance rates continue to increase gradually, as some experts have predicted, that could cool the market down a bit.
If you follow today's real estate market, you know that two of the main problems consumers face are inflation and mortgage rates. The StreetEasy market reports are a monthly summary of the sales and rental markets in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. About a quarter of the population is made up of children, and many are likely to stay because of the health of the labor market. Tayenaka and his agents advise sellers to check out recently sold properties and list theirs for a little less, but sellers want to go even further.
The full recovery of New York City's real estate market and the economy as a whole depends on potential future closures in New York City, as well as on the speed and efficiency of vaccine distribution, which can help businesses reopen at full capacity with no restrictions at all. Buyers, sellers and real estate professionals across the country are trying to adapt to a real estate market that is very different from that of a few months ago. The other factor that Teta believes will help to slowly cool the market is the rise in interest rates. Among metropolitan areas, the New York City subway remains the country's largest real estate market by value, but with a shrinking margin.
If recent headlines about the cooling of the housing market and the moderation of buyer demand worry that you've lost your opportunity to sell, here's what you need to know. A recently published report by New York brokerage agency Douglas Elliman analyzes average rental market costs in every district and doesn't look like it's going to calm down any time soon.