What’s included in every real estate update?
Interesting Real Estate Stats
Recommended Articles Of The Month And Why
Real Estate Local News
Interesting Real Estate Stat For This Edition:
Every month we’ll pull an interesting stat for you directly from our MLS for Pinellas County.
The Federal Reserve Cut The Interest Rate By A Quarter-Point For The First Time Since 2008
If you’ve checked the headlines lately there is a lot of discussion on the Federal Reserve cutting the interest rate by a quarter-point. While this has created a lot of buzz, the biggest thing you are probably wondering is if it will have an impact on home mortgage rates.
The answer is: Not Necessarily
The interest rates on homes are more tied to different benchmarks including the 10-year Treasury Yield. All in all, it’s a wait and see situation to see if the mortgage rates follow suit.
In the meantime you’ll see more conversation regarding credit card rates, savings and CD rates, HELOCs, and auto loans in regards to this recent change.
The good news: Long term mortgage rates are still at all-time lows!
For this update we are going to explore the history of mortgage interest rate.
The image above is provided by Freddie Mac (a government-owned corporation) that buys mortgages. The last record on the graph is for July 25th, 2019 showing an interest rate of 3.75%. Let’s take a journey through time in 5 year increments to give more perspective.
July 25th, 2019: 3.75% Interest Rate
July 25th, 2014: 4.13% Interest Rate
July 25th, 2009: 5.20% Interest Rate
July 25th, 2004: 6.08% Interest Rate
July 25th, 1999: 7.52% Interest Rate
July 25th, 1994: 8.53% Interest Rate
July 25th, 1989: 9.87% Interest Rate
July 25th, 1984: 14.67% Interest Rate
July 25th, 1979: 11.08% Interest Rate
And check out this image below of the average median (left column) and average (right column) home prices over the past few years in the U.S. You can find this image and more provide by the US Census at: https://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/pdf/uspriceann.pdf
If interest rates are low and historically home prices tend to appreciate every year, what’s holding you back? If you have any challenges we would love to help you address them. Reach out to us with any of your questions via – the727team@gmail.com
Condos vs Single Family Homes
I thought it would be fun to give a little opinion piece on condo living vs single family homes. Sometimes we have clients that are debating on whether they want to live in a condominium vs a single family home. There are pros and cons to both types of living so let’s get into it.
Condo living can be a great choice for someone that appreciates having low upkeep and low maintenance duties. Most condos exterior repairs and maintenance are taken care of by the property manager. These are factored into your monthly HOA fees so they don’t come for free but it’s nice to not have to worry about it and leave the management to someone else.
Condos also tend to have nicer interiors for the same price point. This of course can vary based on where the condo is located vs the single family home, but traditionally if you can compare a single family home vs a condo in the same area and price point, the condos tend to have more going for them for the interior.
As an example if you were buying a $130,000 home in St. Pete vs a $130,000 condo, you may find the condo has updated floors and a nice kitchen where the single family home may be in worse condition. Condo living also can put you in some prime locations especially if you decide to live in one of the high-rise condos in downtown St. Pete or Clearwater Beach.
If you choose to go with a single family home, generally you can expect to get higher appreciation yearly vs a condo. Single family homes require more maintenance and upkeep but you don’t have to worry about HOA fees, neighbors sharing walls, and you have your own yard that you don’t have to share with others. Some condos set restrictions on what you can do with the interior and exterior, for example a condo may restrict a 2nd floor unit from putting in a type of floor due to the noise factor. With a single family home you’ll never have to worry about this and you won’t have to worry about getting special permissions unless you are doing something that would violate a deed-restriction or city ordinance.
In Conclusion
As we do these monthly updates we learn a lot too from our research and experiences. Right now the market is showing prime conditions for buyers that want to live in a very desired area. Cities such as St. Pete and others will continue to develop and we are expecting in the coming years for more people to make Pinellas County and the Tampa Bay Area their new home.
Thank you for taking the time to read our August update, until next time!
Sincerely,
Ryan Eisenhower
Recommended Articles Of The Month:
For this update, we’ll highlight some must-reads we’ve written:
Top 8 Reasons To Move To Florida From California – Do you live in another state and are considering moving to Florida? You’ll appreciate this article as we use California as an example to breakdown the appeal of moving to Florida from another region.
Local News:
Here are some news stories you may enjoy!
5 Things That Get Cheaper When The FED Cuts Interest Rates – This is an interesting article breaking down the recent interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
7 Million Dollar Expansion Planned For St. Pete Museum Of History – As the pier continues to be constructed, other landmarks in the city are taking notice and beginning to expand.
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