Can you believe it? Interest rates are down for a 2nd consecutive month according to a Fannie Mae report that came out just last week.  Interest rates went down from 4.35% (Feb 2019) to 4.28% (March 2019) for a 30-year fixed mortgage.  This is amazing news for buyers.  They now have more buying power which means they could now afford to pay more for a home then they would if rates were just slightly higher, all while having the same monthly payment.  With rates now being at these levels, we now know the reason that economists are changing their tone when it comes to the outlook of real estate home appreciation for 2019 and 2020.  At the end of 2018 the prediction was that real estate would go back to a normal, stable year over year appreciation of around 3 ½% – 3 ¾% appreciation level, but now that interest rates seem to be continuing lower rather than higher, giving buyers the ability to afford more home, it seems that the real estate home appreciation rate may be closer to a 4 ½ % level year over year.  This seems to be in line with our local average sales price numbers (seen in the graph to the right).  December and January were scary months with 2 massive average sales price drops.  The good news for sellers is that February showed a price hike jumping from $584,665 to $621,625!  We are excited for the market in 2019.  How can we serve you?  Call us anytime!

INTEREST RATES DOWN AGAIN!