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Don’t Let These Two Concerns Hold You Back from Selling Your House

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If you’re debating whether or not you want to sell right now, it might be because you’ve got some unanswered questions, like if moving really makes sense in today’s market.

Maybe you’re wondering if it’s even a good idea to move right now. Or you’re stressed because you think you won’t find a house you like.

To put your mind at ease, here’s how to tackle these two concerns head-on.

Is It Even a Good Idea To Move Right Now?

If you own a home already, you may have been holding off because you don’t want to sell and take on a higher mortgage rate on your next house. But your move may be a lot more feasible than you think, and that’s because of your equity.

Equity is the current market value of your home minus what you still owe on your loan. And thanks to the rapid appreciation we saw over the past few years, your equity has gotten a big boost. Just how much are we talking about? See for yourself. As Dr. Selma Hepp, Chief Economist at CoreLogic, explains:

“Persistent home price growth has continued to fuel home equity gains for existing homeowners who now average about $315,000 in equity and almost $129,000 more than at the onset of the pandemic.”

Here’s why this can be such a game-changer when you sell. You can use that equity to put down a larger amount on your next home, which means financing less at today’s mortgage rate. And in some cases, you may even be able to buy your next home in cash, avoiding mortgage rates altogether.

The bottom line? Your equity could be the key to making your next move possible.

Will I Be Able To Find a Home I Like?

If this is on your mind, it’s probably because you remember just how low the supply of homes for sale got over the past few years. It felt nearly impossible to find a home to buy because there were so few available.

But finding a home in today’s market isn’t as challenging. That’s because the number of homes for sale is growing, giving you more options to choose from. Data from Realtor.com shows just how much inventory has increased – it’s up almost 30% year-over-year (see graph below):

 
 

And even though inventory is still below pre-pandemic levels, this is the highest it’s been in quite a while. That means you have more options for your move, but your house should still stand out to buyers at the same time. That’s a sweet spot for you.

It’s important to note, though, that this balance varies by local market. Some places may have more homes for sale than others, so working with a local real estate agent is the best way to see what inventory trends look like in your area. 

Bottom Line

If you’re thinking about selling, hopefully these concerns haven’t kept you up at night. With this information, you should realize you don’t have to let the what-if’s delay your move anymore.

Connect with a local agent so you have the data and the local perspective you need to move forward.

Read more at CNBC.com

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Home sales surged in October, just before mortgage rates jumped

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A sharp drop in mortgage rates brought homebuyers off the fence in October after a slow summer.

Sales of previously owned homes last month rose 3.4% from September to a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 3.96 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were 2.9% higher than October of last year, marking the first annual increase in more than three years.

This count is based on signed contracts, meaning most of the deals were made in August and September. During that time, the average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage was falling. It started August around 6.6% and dropped to a low of 6.11% by mid-September, according to Mortgage News Daily.

“The worst of the downturn in home sales could be over, with increasing inventory leading to more transactions,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, in a release. “Additional job gains and continued economic growth appear assured, resulting in growing housing demand. However, for most first-time homebuyers, mortgage financing is critically important. While mortgage rates remain elevated, they are expected to stabilize.”

There were 1.37 million units for sale at the end of October, an increase of 19.1% from October 2023. That puts inventory at a 4.2-month supply at the current sales pace. It is still on the leaner side, as a six-month supply is considered balanced between buyer and seller.

Tight supply continues to put upward pressure on prices. The median price of an existing home sold in October was $407,200, an increase of 4% from the year before. By price category, the higher end of the market is seeing more activity than the lower end.

“We still need another 30% in inventory just to get us back to the pre-Covid conditions,” Yun said.

The share of all-cash buyers pulled back to 27%, down from 29% in October 2023. That is still high historically, but lower mortgage rates likely caused that share to drop.

First-time buyers made up 27% of sales, down from 28% the year before and still historically low. They usually make up 40% of sales.

Mortgage rates are much higher now, at 7.05% on the 30-year fixed. A new report from Redfin, however, showed a recent surge in the number of potential buyers contacting its agents, particularly after the election. Its so-called demand index rose 17% year over year during a one-week period in mid-November to the highest level since August 2023.

“The burst of buyers and sellers jumping into the market is the result of pent-up demand from people who were waiting for the election to pass, and for the Fed to cut interest rates a second time,” said Chen Zhao, Redfin’s economic research lead. “Now we’re keeping a close eye on whether this is a short post-election boom, or if it translates into a steady improvement in pending sales.”

Read more at CNBC.com

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Map shows options for people hoping for permits to cut down their own Colorado Christmas tree

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A memorable experience, cutting a holiday tree is a special tradition to share with family and friends while helping to maintain a healthy forest.

For many families, venturing into the forest to cut a Christmas tree for the holidays is a treasured tradition carried on for generations, while others may just be discovering the thrill of searching for the perfect holiday centerpiece.

For every tree that is found, cut and carried home as a holiday fixture, you’re also contributing to the overall forest health. Christmas tree permits are a unique opportunity for citizens to help thin densely populated stands of small-diameter trees – the perfect size for a Christmas tree.

People who are interested in cutting down their own Christmas trees in the wild this year in Colorado can do so by purchasing a permit at recreation.gov/tree-permits. The website allows you to view maps of cutting areas and learn more about the types of trees that can be cut.

The website also offers safety tips.

The tree cutting process contributes to the overall forest health by helping to "thin densely populated stands of small-diameter trees."

Read more at CBSNews.com and Recreation.gov

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How Many Square Feet Is My House? How to Calculate Square Feet of a House

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If you’re selling or looking to buy, one concept that’s crucial to understand is how to calculate the square feet of a house.

Having to do a square footage calculation may be giving you panicked thoughts about being late to homeroom, but there’s a huge difference between a home that’s 400 square feet and one that’s 4,000, and not just in terms of how much space you’ve got to stretch your legs.

A home’s square footage is a crucial element in determining the price of a home you’re trying to buy or sell, how much you’ll pay in taxes if you live there, and what kinds of renovations are possible in your future. Plus, a home’s square footage can be surprisingly subjective. So, if you’re asking yourself, “how to calculate square feet of a house?” here’s what you need to know.

Since most people don’t have a square foot calculator in their back pocket, here’s what you need to know to ace any square footage calculations that crop up in your future.

How to calculate square feet of a room

You probably know how to calculate the square footage of a simple room without any funny shapes. Just break out your measuring tape—or a laser measure—to get its length and width. Multiply the width by the length and voila! You have the square footage. Say a room is 20 feet wide by 13 feet long, then 20 x 13 = 260 square feet.

 
 

How to calculate square feet of a house

While measuring a single room is no big deal, people get kind of intimidated when it comes to calculating the square footage of an entire home. While homes can initially seem “daunting to measure, they’re just a collection of small boxes,” says Mario Mazzamuto of SF Bay Appraisal. Don’t sweat it if a room has an outcropping. Simply break that area down into a smaller box, and measure each box individually. Add up each box’s square footage to get the room’s total area. So if your living room, bedroom, bathroom, and hallway are  500, 400, 200, and 100 square feet respectively, that means the total is 500 + 400 + 200 + 100 = 1,200 square feet total.

 
 

If you have a round kitchen and a triangular rumpus room, fear not. Just check out vCalc’s handy calculator that will tell you how to calculate square feet no matter what polygon’s thrown your way. Once you choose a shape, the calculator will prompt you for the measurements needed to compute square footage.

How many square feet is my house? Take the square foot calculation with a grain of salt

Now that you know how to calculate the square footage of a home, it’s time to bust your bubble with a big caveat: A square footage calculation is surprisingly subjective based on who’s doing the measuring. For instance, you measured the actual, livable square footage between the interior walls. But many architects use their own square foot calculation method, measuring the square footage from the exterior walls.

This explains why there are often discrepancies between your square foot calculations and those of a real estate agent, builder, or other sources. (looking for an agent? Here’s where to find a real estate agent in your area.)

“Many MLS services require a listing’s square footage to come from a specific source,” says Realtor.com. So while you can make your own estimate, you may need to hire a certain professional to come up with a number that can be used on your listing; check with your Realtor or town’s building department to determine who that is.

As a general rule, “the square footage extends through the Sheetrock and framing to the exterior of the wall,” says Mazzamuto. Generally, to do the same for your measurements, add 6 inches per measurement, he says.

Read more at Realtor.com

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Mortgage Rates Fall to 6.78% Amid Postelection ‘Rate Volatility’

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Mortgage rates ticked down from 6.79% last week to 6.78% for a 30-year fixed home loan for the week ending Nov. 14, according to Freddie Mac.

“After a six-week climb, rates have leveled off, but overall affordability continues to be an issue for potential homebuyers,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

The downturn can be traced to the presidential election, which dominated headlines last week and sent the stock market into overdrive.

“The coming months could bring more mortgage rate volatility as reactions to the election and its implications move through the market,” says Hannah Jones, Realtor.com® senior economic research analyst.

As Americans brace themselves for what could be a wild economic ride as 2024 winds down, here’s a snapshot of the latest housing market data and what it means for homebuyers and sellers.

 
 

Mortgage rates expected to climb higher

Once the elections were in the rearview mirror, all economic eyes turned to the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee, which met last Thursday.

The Fed cut the Federal Funds rate (the interest rate banks charge each other for short-term loans) by 25 basis points, to 4.5% from 4.75%.

While the Fed doesn’t set mortgage rates, Fed rates and mortgage rates tend to move in the same direction, which helps explain why mortgage rates sank this week. However, “the Freddie Mac rate for a 30-year mortgage continued to remain higher than many initially expected,” explains Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu.

This “recent upward trajectory of mortgage rates could largely discourage sellers from listing their homes,” says Jones—especially given that roughly 84% of outstanding mortgages have a rate of 6% or lower.

And mortgage rates are expected to go even higher “as a result of postelection Treasury yields,” adds Jones.

Even so, the Realtor.com economic team continues to hold out hope that the largely frozen real estate market might begin to thaw.

“Despite still-high rates, a recent read on homebuyer and seller sentiment showed relatively rosy expectations,” says Jones.

About 64% of sellers consider now a good time to sell, and just 22% of respondents expect mortgage rates to climb.

“Only time will tell whether the market will reflect this optimism,” says Jones.

Median home prices fall slightly

Mortgage rates continue to seesaw while home prices remain flat, falling just 0.2% for the week ending Nov. 9 compared with the same week last year. (Listing prices hit a median of $424,950 nationwide in October.)

This is the 24th week in a row that the median list price was less than or equal to the same week of 2023.

However, when a change in the inventory mix toward smaller homes is accounted for, the median listing price per square foot increased by 1.7% the week ending Nov. 9 compared with the same week a year prior.

“The housing market has remained largely unaffordable to many would-be buyers over the last year,” says Jones.

Despite this, buyers have a glimmer of hope, with “nearly 20% of listings offering price cuts,” according to Xu.

Housing stock continues to rise

Fresh listings are always a boon for buyers, yet they rose by only 1.7% for the week ending Nov. 9 compared with a year ago.

Overall housing stock is also up, with 26.1% more homes for sale for the week ending Nov. 9 than the previous year. This marks 53 weeks with a higher number of homes listed for sale compared with the year before.

Even so, this week’s uptick in housing stock was lower than last week’s, marking the seventh week of slowing momentum and the lowest annual change since late March.

“Slowing listing activity and stifled buyer demand has resulted in slowing inventory growth,” explains Jones.

Nevertheless, if mortgage rates decrease, it could boost buyer demand, which could eat into the recent buildup of housing stock.

Homebuyers are slow to act

Buyers might have taken a break from their house hunt last week to focus on the election—and the economic fallout—as homes spent nine more days on the market for the week ending Nov. 9 year over year. (In October, homes spent a median of 58 days on the market.)

“Generally, buyers have been holding off, waiting for more affordable housing conditions,” says Jones.

The recent bounce-back in mortgage rates that had been edging closer to 6% might be disappointing for homebuyers hoping for a year-end dip.

However, they can benefit from other buyer-friendly market trends, such as “the highest inventory since December 2019 and the slowest seasonal market in five years,” says Xu.

Read more at Realtor.com

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If there is a home that you would like more information about, if you are considering selling a property, or if you have questions about the housing market in your neighborhood, please reach out. We’re here to help.

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