The Complete Guide on When to Buy a Home: https://www.hauseit.com/when-to-buy-a-home/
Save Money with a Hauseit Buyer Closing Credit: https://www.hauseit.com/hauseit-buyer-closing-credit-nyc/
No one knows when to buy a home just like no one can predict the movement of the stock market. With that said, the real estate market is slower moving and buyers can watch for signs like low interest rates, high average days on market, high housing supply and many local factors to help them gauge the optimal time to buy a home.
When Interest Rates Are Low
One of the best times to buy a home is when interest rates are low. Remember that mortgage interest rates generally follow the direction of the 10 Year U.S. Treasury Note market. As a result, keep an eye out on where rates are and where they are headed.
Banks will typically base their 30 year fixed mortgage rates off of where the U.S. 10 Year Treasury Note is currently trading. Because Treasuries are considered to be risk free, and mortgage loans are not, mortgage rates will of course be higher than treasuries of an equivalent tenor.
When the Average Days on Market Climb
Many news publications and even brokerages will publish periodic updates on the state of the real estate market in a particular market. For example, if you are buying a home in NYC and simply Google this topic, you’ll find out that the average days on market to a signed contract is currently over 100 days in New York City.
That means it takes on average over 3 months for the average seller of a home in NYC to find a buyer and fully execute a purchase contract. Pretty scary considering that NYC is typically considered to be the country’s hottest and most resilient real estate market.
This phenomenon is called a buyer’s market, and indicates a great time to be a buyer. A buyer’s market is characterized by fewer transactions but more inventory on the market. As a result, sellers typically won’t receive multiple offers and have bidding wars that go above asking. In fact, the fewer transactions that do happen may often result from a single offer.
When Housing Supply Numbers Increase
National housing supply figures are published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and are widely quoted in the media. If you take a look at this data, you’ll notice that the monthly supply of houses in the United States has increased as of late, though it is nowhere close to as high as the glut was during the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-2008.
You can find local housing supply figures simply by searching the internet. This data is regularly published by MLS or Realtor associations, newspapers and even brokerages themselves.
