Over the past few year’s buyers within the Washington housing market have been taking hit after hit. Back in 2020 through 2021 buyers were faced with the lowest inventory of homes Washington has ever seen. This was then coupled with an excess of other buyers all trying to lock in a sub 3% rate. These factors led to bidding wars of hundreds of thousands over asking price and buyers having to submit offers on close to ten homes before acceptance.
Then another punch in the nose befell home buyers. Just as inventory began creeping up so did interest rates. “Experts are forecasting that the 30-year, fixed-mortgage rate will vary from 5% to 7% by the end of 2022. Here are their more detailed predictions, as of late May 2022:” (Forbes). Some say these rates could even exceed 8% if oil production continues to lag. Just this last week July 1st rates were sitting just under 6%.
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However, after months of bad news rates have finally dropped. Rates have dropped to an average of 5.3% “That’s down 40 basis points from the previous week—one basis point is equal to one hundredth of a percentage point, or 1% of 1%.” (Freddie Mac). Now is the time to lock in before rates continue to skyrocket for the rest of the year. This is still historically one of the best rates you can get “Today’s mortgage interest rates are well below the highest annual average rate recorded by Freddie Mac — 16.63% in 1981” (Fox Business). Additionally, there is an excess of inventory that hasn’t been seen in years.
This brief decline in rates is also a good thing for sellers. Housing prices are still falling statewide and time on market is also still increasing. However, for the homes active right now this rate decrease might just be the spark you need to get your home sold.
“Mortgage Rates See Largest Drop since December 2008, amid Rising Concerns over a Recession.” Real Estate News & Insights | Realtor.com®, 7 July 2022, https://www.realtor.com/news/real-estate-news/mortgage-rates-see-largest-drop-since-2008-december/.
Jennings, Chris. “Today's Mortgage Refinance Rates: 30-Year Rates Dip below 6%: July 12, 2022.” Fox Business, Fox Business, 12 July 2022, https://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/todays-mortgage-refinance-rates-july-12-2022.
Campisi, Natalie. “Mortgage Rate Predictions for 2022.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 1 July 2022, https://www.forbes.com/advisor/mortgages/mortgage-interest-rates-forecast/.
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