Don’t Wait Till Spring to Buy – Fed December Rate Hike Likely

Don’t Wait Till Spring to Buy – Fed December Rate Hike Likely

Don’t Wait Till Spring to Buy – Fed December Rate Hike Likely and mortgage interest rates will go up. You might miss your chance to buy a house.

Business Insider Magazine says a December Fed rate hike is “clearly in sight”

An interest-rate hike in December is clearly in sight.

After months of guessing, Friday’s October jobs report jolted the market’s confidence that the Federal Reserve could — and perhaps would — raise rates next month.

The headline numbers were strong all around:

The economy added 271,000 jobs in October, marking the fastest pace of growth this year, and crushing the expectation for 182,000.
The unemployment rate fell to 5%, the lowest since April 2008, and a level most economists consider “full employment.”
We even got wage growth, as average hourly earnings rose 2.5% year-on-year — the highest growth rate since the Great Recession.
Manufacturing job growth was flat, beating the forecast for a drop by 4,000 as the sector flirts with recession.
This looked like the kind of data that the “data-dependent” Fed needed to argue that the labor market had shown “further improvement.”

If you wait until spring to buy a home you may miss some of the best interest rates in recent years.  And once interest rates go up the amount of house you can afford goes down – dramatically.

Buyers (and sellers) waiting for the spring market may find themselves priced out of the market because of rising interest rates.

We have long advocated the best time to buy a house – is when you can.  So many variables have to line up for a house purchase.  But one of the biggest is the amount of house payment your monthly income will comfortably support.  An interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve Bank essentially changes the game for most home buyers.  A small rise in mortgage interest rates dramatically changes the amount of house (on terms of purchase price) that most buyers can afford.

HOME SELLERS – dont sit on the sidelines as you wait for the azaleas and dogwoods to bloom.  You need to have your home listed and on the market for buyers who are trying to beat the clock on the Fed rate hike.

Call or text Sally English if you need assistance buying or selling a home in Metro Atlanta.  404-229-2995.