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.
There has been a lot of talk of our economy slowing down. When this happens the Federal Reserve influences the bankers who control the interest rates and push it lower as an attempt to stimulate the economy through the housing market.
It’s easy to assume that lower interest rates will create a higher demand for housing since lower interest rates equal a lower monthly payment and ultimately a lower amount of interest paid over the life of a loan, but that’s not always the case.
According to housingwire.com “Mortgage rates could fall to 3.3% before the year-end,” Yun said. “But lower rates may not help with affordability because home prices are re-accelerating higher, easily above the latest wage growth.”
Despite prices continuing to rise, we’re still seeing average days on market decline. Limited inventory and low interest rates are causing buyers to secure contracts with less hesitation.
What does this mean for you?
If you’re in a position to buy a home now is a great time to lock in a rate. The downside being that depending on your market, you may be priced out of the type of house you’re looking for. With that said, we’ve also had a few contracts this year appraise below contract value. I think appraisers are aiming to value homes at a healthy appreciation rate instead of an artificially inflated one.
The nice thing about the Pinellas County area is the fact that we have a lot of areas that are up and coming. Maybe you can’t afford a new construction home in your favorite neighborhood but you may be able to afford a home in an up and coming neighborhood that’s going to appreciate in value over time. The potential for development here is apparent in these lower income neighborhoods that are seeing new construction homes popping up.
Developers see the potential in these areas and are taking calculated risks when they build new construction homes. Palmetto Park or “South Kenwood” is a great example of this. What was formerly a pretty run down neighborhood is now ripe with new construction in the $400,000-$600,000+ range. Some of these higher end homes are having trouble moving because not many people want to buy the most expensive house in the neighborhood but it will continue to develop and pretty soon homes in that price range will be commonplace.
This article I wrote a few years ago outlining the Top 5 Up And Coming Neighborhoods in St. Pete still rings true. Honestly at this point St. Pete is coming up so quick that it’s not a bad idea to consider buying property anywhere. There are people moving to our city everyday and it’s only growing in momentum. Our rental market continues to get stronger as people new to town decide to rent before they buy. Even though there is talks of our national economy slowing down I can’t see our local economy being impacted as hard since there is a real demand to live here.
Thanks for reading, I hope this newsletter update was helpful!
Sincerely,
Chris Formico
Recommended Articles Of The Month:
For this update, we’ll highlight some must-reads we’ve written:
Top 8 Reasons To Move To Isla Del Sol– Do you want to live near the beach but not too far away from mainland Pinellas? Isla Del Sol is a great option to have the best of both worlds.
Local News:
Here are some news stories you may enjoy!
Wine Cocktail bar to open in the space that was formerly Genaro’s Cafe – We are sad to see Genaro’s go but this new concept includes wine, food and hookah.
Tampa Bay Business Incubator Wins 7.5M Federal Grant– This 12 million dollar center will be built just south of Downtown.
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