Home Prices & Interest Rates Projected to Increase in Late 2017

If you are considering moving up to your dream home, it may be better to accomplish that sooner rather than later. The two components of your monthly mortgage payment (home prices and interest rates) are both projected to increase as the year moves forward, and interest rates may increase rather quickly.

Home in Ka Makana at Hoakalei

Here are some predictions on where rates will be by the end of the year:

Freddie Mac:

“While full employment and rising inflation are signs of a strong economy, they also have the potential to push mortgage rates and house prices up. The higher rates and higher prices create significant affordability concerns, which may continue to characterize the housing market for the rest of 2017.”

Lynn Fisher, Vice President of Research & Economics for the Mortgage Bankers Association:

“By the time we get to the fourth quarter of this year, we will still be under 5 percent – we are thinking 4.7 percent. Something north of 5 percent by the time we get to 2018, and by the time we get to 2019, we show fourth-quarter rates hitting 5.5 percent.”

Mark Fleming, First American’s Chief Economist:

“Despite some regional disparities, title agents and real estate professionals do not expect increasing mortgage rates to have a significant impact on the housing market this spring. Continued good economic news, increasing Millennial demand and confidence that buyers will remain in the market even if rates exceed 5 percent bode well for 2017 real estate.”

Len Kiefer, Deputy Chief Economist for Freddie Mac:

“We will probably see rates higher at the end of year, around 4.5%.”

If you are feeling good about your economic future and are considering making a move to your dream home, doing so sooner rather than later is recommended.

Interested But Off Island?

Back to our market here in Ewa Beach and in the Oahu market place. If you see a home of interest and you are off island, you can still submit an offer and feel confident with the home you are buying thanks to all the new technology out there. What I do with my clients is Facetime or a Skype video call. We walk, talk, and go over the home so my clients feel confident with the offer and the home they are buying.

In this market, homes go fast and sometimes it takes several offers before you can get a home. So when clients are off island, if they happen to see a home on the internet and can’t fly out to see it, or have a move date and need to be in a home by a certain deadline, sometimes video meetings are the perfect solution. There are a lot of different scenarios, but this is a common occurrence, and is easily taken care of.

I am so happy for my clients. Their dream came true, and they can now experience living the Hoakalei life.

More Information

If you need any information about selling or about buying a home on Oahu, please contact me.

See you next time,
MM