Is the Texas housing market primed for a successful home sale? Are home prices still rising, or have they begun to fall? Have interest rates on mortgage loans grown in recent months? These are a few questions we will answer in the article below. After reading through the information here, you will know whether or not you should sell your Texas house right now.
First, mortgage rates have gotten higher recently, which does impact the seller’s market. As such, you might wonder – should I sell my house now? The answer to that question is rather complex. You will need to consider the many different real estate market conditions.
Want to learn whether your local market is prime for a home sale in Texas? Then, keep reading!
Is Now a Good Time to Sell Your House?
You will find that most realtors and other real estate experts will tell you that now is still a good time to sell your house and buy your next home. The real estate market has exhibited signs of cooling down and the growth in housing prices has declined. Yet, ask any real estate agent and they’ll tell you to sell your place.
Why is it still a good time to sell? The reason is due to continued demand from home buyers and a general scarcity of housing inventory. That means home values are still relatively high and you should find a buyer willing to pay a high price for your home. Due to low inventory and buyer demand, you may even have bidding wars on your house.
Growing mortgage interest rates have hit about 7 percent on a 30-year mortgage, but you may want to list your home on the current market before the rates get even higher. At the same time, you may want to wait until the rates drop, as they are at the highest they’ve been since 2006.
Some buyers may not want to pursue a home purchase with such high interest rates. Yet, homeowners may have to wait several years or more for interest rates to decrease. Are you ready to wait? Many home sellers may not have the time to wait and have another job lined up in a different city.
If you plan to sell your home, you should complete the following steps.
- Find the right real estate agent
- Complete any necessary repairs and home improvement projects
- Declutter and clean the inside of your house
- Improve the curb appeal of your home’s exterior
- Incorporate home staging services
Current Real Estate Market Overview
The best time to sell a house is usually when the seller’s market is strong. When home prices continue rising, mortgage rates are low, buyer demand is high, and inventory is scarce, you should put your home on the real estate market. That’s the best time to sell.
Yet, what is the current real estate market right now? There are numerous factors to consider. The housing inventory is still low but slowly growing. As such, home buyers are currently snatching up homes relatively quickly, and bidding wars still exist.
Also, the sales price for a new home is relatively high right now due to low inventory. Further, the annual home values continue to rise year over year. For instance, the national median housing price grew by 14.3% from August 2021 to August 2022. The median home price reached $435,000 in August 2022.
At the same time, you should understand that the real estate market is soon going to benefit buyers much more than sellers. Morgan Stanley expects the asking price of the average home to fall by 10 percent from June 2022 to June 2024.
The buyer’s market is already seeing benefits in places like San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle where home prices are decreasing. Yet, it’s unlikely that the real estate market will fall apart like in 2008 since the number of homes available is still low while demand from potential buyers is high.
The real estate market may see a cooling down period but won’t see a crash anytime soon.
Is the Real Estate Market Bubble Crashing?
To experience a true real estate market crash, home sale prices should drop by at least 20 percent or more. Real estate experts do not predict such a significant drop. As such, the real estate market bubble will likely deflate somewhat but not completely crash.
While home values were growing significantly since the pandemic began, they are now slowing down in growth. The main reason is that the major home price growth was unsustainable. The housing market increases rose much faster than wage growth over the last several years.
Home prices grew 45 percent from December 2019 to June 2022. Further, housing costs have increased by 38 percent since March 2020.
Real estate professionals from Up for Growth and Freddie Mac estimated in 2021 that the United States needs an extra 3.8 million homes to meet buyer demands. However, the National Association of Realtors predicts that the number should be closer to 7 million houses.
Furthermore, permits for new construction have dropped by 10.1 percent from October 2021 to October 2022. Essentially, the low inventory means the real estate market bubble won’t pop anytime soon.
Yet, you should also take into account the monthly mortgage payment for the average home buyer. Mortgage payments are on the rise due to growing mortgage interest rates.
The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage increased from 2.66 percent in January 2022 to 4.56 percent in August 2022. That interest rate reached the highest it’s ever been in the past 10 years. Furthermore, the average interest rate for a 3-year mortgage has grown to 5.22 percent by August 2022.
Likely, more buyers will opt out of the real estate market due to the rising interest rates in the coming months. Nonetheless, the housing market is mostly cooling down and you won’t likely see a big crash.
Should I Sell My House Now?
This might be the best time to sell your current home before the real estate market starts to mostly favor buyers. If you’re thinking about downsizing and selling your house, most real estate agents will tell you to do so as soon as possible and not wait any longer.
In the next year or two, the housing market may benefit buyers more than sellers. Before it’s too late, you should begin the sale of your home to get top dollar.
It is possible to sell a house fast in Texas today since buyer demand is still high and housing inventory remains relatively low. However, with mortgage rates growing and no sign of these interest rates slowing down, more buyers will drop out of the housing market. You’ll see less competition for homes over the next year.
First-time buyers may have already decided to rent instead due to rising interest rates along with the few homes available for sale. Nonetheless, the median price of houses sold in October 2022 reached $379,100, which was 6.6 percent higher than in October 2021.
Furthermore, in the same month this year, 24 percent of houses received offers above the asking price. Essentially, it’s a good idea to sell your house right now before home prices begin to drop.
You will find that fewer homeowners are putting their houses up for sale right now than in the last few years. Further, the amount of time that houses stay on the market has slightly increased since more buyers have begun dropping out of the house hunt. The 7 percent increase in interest rates led these buyers to stop house hunting.
Nonetheless, you’re likely to find enough buyers right now looking for a new home. Housing construction and inventory have been growing but not fast enough to keep up with demand.
Essentially, you should consider selling your house right now, especially since the real estate market is likely to cool down further in the coming year.
Conclusion
After reading the information above, you should know the clear answer to: “Should I sell my house now?” Currently, putting your house on the local real estate market is a good idea. Home prices continue to grow, albeit more slowly. Since inventory rates are still low, you’ll see enough competition in the housing market and numerous potential buyers coming to look at your house.
With high buyer demand, you may even see a bidding war start when selling your house. It’s still possible that you could sell your home above the asking price. However, if your local housing market isn’t looking too bright, you may want to save on realtor commission fees and consider selling a house by owner.
Also, if you need to sell your Texas home quickly in its as-is condition, try seeking out cash home buyers in San Antonio. Lastly, we buy houses Marion residents love, so call us as soon as you can. We can give you a fair offer!