Expectations For Housing Market in 2017
“We got spoiled in 2016. Mortgage rates fell below 4 percent at the beginning of the year, and they spent the summer flirting with record lows. And they began 2017 above 4.25 percent. It’s a good idea to keep things in perspective, though. For most of the past 50 years, homebuyers would have been delighted to get mortgage rates in the 4 percent range. Higher mortgage rates might result in slower increases in house prices in the first quarter of 2017, but it will still remain a seller’s market in most of the country.” Says Holden Lewis Author of What’s in store for housing market in 2017? This article targets and shows that when mortgage rates are averagely in the 4 percent rage. Which means the market is fluctuating at decent rate, also explaining the start of this year was a bit higher than the previous year 2016, but shows examples of our history mortgage rates and how back in the day they as well would have been comfortable with a 4 percent rate. “Homebuyers and mortgage refinancers had a nice run in 2016: The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was under 3.75 percent all summer. Then it shot upward after the presidential election and averaged 4.24 percent in December.” Forecasters believe mortgage rates above 4 percent are here to stay. The Mortgage Bankers Association predicts that the 30-year fixed will average 4.3 percent in the first quarter. Fannie Mae, the National Association of Realtors and Wells Fargo predict it will average 4.1 percent. Freddie Mac forecasts an average mortgage rate of 4.2 percent for all of 2017. Lisa Ford, a Realtor and a board member of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association in Florida, has a list of New Year’s resolutions for anyone (especially millennial first-timers) who wants to buy in 2017. For a long time, the real estate industry waited for millennials to start buying houses in big numbers. They finally arrived. In 2016, people fewer than 35 made up 61 percent of first-time homebuyers, according to NAR.
- Prepare and file income taxes early, because lenders want to see the latest information about borrowers’ income and taxes. Doing your 2016 taxes helps you gather the documents you need.
- If you get a tax refund, set it aside for expenses such as a down payment or mortgage closing costs.
- Before looking at homes, find an experienced loan officer “who’s familiar with the first-time homebuyer down payment assistance programs that are available.”
In many places across the United States, it continues to be a seller’s market, in which there are more potential homebuyers than sellers. January and February tend to have the least number of home sales, as people stay indoors and recover financially from the holidays. With that being said it is exciting to see where this spring and summer will take the mortgage rates this year or 2017. They are all types of market predictions this year so it is important that we all stay intact with the numbers whether your in the real estate game or looking to buy or sell your home especially with the millennial generation buying more homes throughout this year.