Buying Frenzy Starting to Cool?
DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2013
Bidding wars in recent months have fueled large gains in home values in some parts of the country, particularly states like California, Arizona, and Nevada. But bidding wars and the buying frenzy from a few months ago are showing signs of cooling, at a time when housing affordability has been reduced due to higher mortgage rates and home prices, Bloomberg reports.
“The bidding wars were creating a false market,” homebuyer Mike Imgarten told Bloomberg about his two-month house hunt in Sacramento, Calif., area. “Now is a good time to jump back in and see where we’re at.”
Inventories have risen in many markets, leaving home buyers with more options. The National Association of REALTORS® reported that inventory levels of unsold homes rose in September from a year earlier – the first time since 2011.
More home owners are seeing the return of equity (more than 2.5 million homes saw positive equity return in the second quarter alone), which has prompted more people to list their properties.
“We are shifting from a frenzy to where buyers are taking a step back and being more analytical and unwilling to just make rash decisions,” says Ellen Haberle, an economist for the real estate brokerage, Redfin. READ MORE...
DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2013
Bidding wars in recent months have fueled large gains in home values in some parts of the country, particularly states like California, Arizona, and Nevada. But bidding wars and the buying frenzy from a few months ago are showing signs of cooling, at a time when housing affordability has been reduced due to higher mortgage rates and home prices, Bloomberg reports.
“The bidding wars were creating a false market,” homebuyer Mike Imgarten told Bloomberg about his two-month house hunt in Sacramento, Calif., area. “Now is a good time to jump back in and see where we’re at.”
Inventories have risen in many markets, leaving home buyers with more options. The National Association of REALTORS® reported that inventory levels of unsold homes rose in September from a year earlier – the first time since 2011.
More home owners are seeing the return of equity (more than 2.5 million homes saw positive equity return in the second quarter alone), which has prompted more people to list their properties.
“We are shifting from a frenzy to where buyers are taking a step back and being more analytical and unwilling to just make rash decisions,” says Ellen Haberle, an economist for the real estate brokerage, Redfin. READ MORE...