Fed in Dec 2021 announced that it intends to increase the rates next year 3 times. In fact the earliest of those increase can come as early as March 2022. The market has taken notice The net effect that the mortgage rates have started to creep upwards. As I write, the Freddie Max fixed rate for 30 year mortgage is hovering around 3.1%, which is in historical context is quite low.
Overall the market is still pretty attractive for a home seller. The inventory continues to be low. The demand seems to be strong. The new housing starts in Nov is 11.8% higher than revised Oct starts and 8.3% more than Nov 2020 levels. Single family homes also show a lot of strengths. Single family housing starts were 11.3% higher in Nov than in Oct 2021. Overall housing market is strong.
If you are seller, an early Q1 2022 listing is probably best to attract a lot of attention since the rates, even if raised will still be low and buyers would be eager to snap up those early listings before higher rates set in. This also helps to cash in on our home’s value increase at the right time.
If you are a home buyer, you need to consider inventory as well as interest rates. You can still lock in favorable rates, but early spring 2022 listings would likely have higher competition. This are couple of reasons why you need to start early in your buying process.