I've been tracking the behavior of interest rates on home loans, especially since the Fed finally started knocking the Fed Funds rate and discount rates a bit. A look at today's rates reveals these numbers:
Today's National Averages
Mortgages APR
30-yr. fixed 6.22%
15-yr. fixed 5.93%
1-yr. adj. 6.80%
Other Rates Rate
New Car 7.19%
Home Equity 7.65%
6-month CD 3.56%
Is is lower than it was in past weeks? Umm... yes. Is it significantly lower? Not much. And the Fed is making noises about not lowering rates further this year.
It seems like the time for waiting is over. Halloween is behind us, and with Thanksgiving looming mere weeks away, we are now transitioning into what we call the "Holiday Market". Of course demand has been exceptionally low all year, so I'm not really sure that it can or will get much lower with the holidays. We're pretty much at "inherent demand" (that is, those people who have to buy regardless of the market due to relocation, divorce, etc.) as it is. This early part of the holiday market might be just the time to scare up a good deal on a property.
Why do I say "scare" up? Quite simply... the holiday market lasts until after New Years, and it gets worse, not better, until then. Those sellers who are truly interested in making a sale on their home know that if they receive an offer in this market, they should probably give it the benefit of their consideration and try to make a deal work - or they could be looking at a couple more months of their house sitting on the market, having to keep their home in showing condition during the holidays. Because of the difficulty of keeping your home in top showing condition, many sellers opt to pull their homes off the market until spring, getting unmotivated sellers off the market and out of the deal hunter's way. However, the side effect of this is that it also reduces inventory - that is, you have fewer homes to choose from for the number of buyers looking. So the early part of the holiday season allows you to maximize both an excess of inventory to choose from, AND gives sellers some incentive to consider your offer and try to get their home sold before people get too busy with the holidays to buy.
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