The Real Estate Market has slowed, but not to levels reflected in doom-and-gloom headlines – especially in some local Florida markets.
We have all seen the headlines:
Explosion of Inventory
Median Sales Price Plummeting
Houses are Sitting on the Market Longer
Where Have All the Buyers Gone?
Sellers are Forced to Accept Discounts – and the list goes on…
Call it click bait, call it fear porn. Headlines are written to draw eyeballs to the story. While rooted in some fact, they can be misleading, particularly if it’s written at the national level, or comparing the U.S. West Coast or Northeast to Florida. They can even be misleading if comparing regions within Florida to Pinellas County.
Takeaway: Every Market is different and Top-of-the-fold headlines may not always tell the whole story
Mortgage Rates Inch Up
Mortgage application activity sunk to a quarter century low this week as high mortgage rates continue to weaken the housing market. While mortgage market activity has significantly shrunk over the last year, inflationary pressures are easing and should lead to lower mortgage rates in 2023. Homebuyers are waiting for rates to decrease more significantly, and when they do, a strong job market and a large demographic tailwind of Millennial renters will provide support to the purchase market. Moreover, if rates continue to decline, borrowers who purchased in the last year will have opportunities to refinance into lower rates.
