If you have looked into buying a home in Central Texas lately you may have noticed interest rates are sky high.
”They’ve been raising interest rates for the past year trying to quell inflation,” said Dr. Rob Tennant, assistant professor of Accounting at Texas A&M University Central Texas. “Some people believe that we have hit the peak of inflation.”
Inflation may have peaked but interest rates are still up — and it’s forcing realtors like Shelly Salas in Killeen to work harder to sell homes.
”Higher interest rates right now have actually made the buyers take a step back and reanalyze their budgets, but when we’re sitting down with them, we’re actually letting them know that there’s a lot more leverage for them in today's market than when interest rates were lower,” said Salas.
The higher interest rates are actually making the cost of houses go down as well.
”For example, a few months ago, the median price in a place like Killeen was about $255,000 — and now it’s closer the $235,000 for the median house price,” said Dr. Tennant.
Sellers are also willing to do more to close the deal than they were in recent years.
”The sellers, right now, are open to not only buying interest rates down for the buyers, but they’re also willing to pay a significant amount, if not all of the buyer’s expenses,” said Salas. “Whereas, when the interest rates were lower, the sellers were willing to contribute anything.”
With the current market more confusing than in recent history, it’s important to get all the information and explore all options before closing a deal.
”Buyers need to sit down and get that consultation with that real estate agent,” said Salas. “So, they know, and they can make a logical decision on whether or not it is time for them to buy a house.”
The big takeaway, even though interest rates are high right now, it is a much better time to buy than even a couple months ago.
