movdqa t1_j76lfs1 wrote on February 4, 2023 at 1:55 PM

That would get you a townhouse or maybe a small house in my town. Prices haven't dropped in my town nor has supply improved much. I know that the national picture is that prices are dropping but I'm not seeing it locally yet.

If the Fed stays on hold for a year as they have indicated, prices should drop but the economy is very strong and they may have to raise rates higher than they thought.

throwaway69107 t1_j76mmik wrote on February 4, 2023 at 2:05 PM

That’s the trouble isn’t it, house prices drop but interest rates go up.

movdqa t1_j76mwim wrote on February 4, 2023 at 2:08 PM

Our first mortgage was 10.15%. Prices had dropped about 40% from the high at the time. We put down 5% and then refinanced as rates dropped. That's the best way to do it from my perspective.

SuzyTheNeedle t1_j76yoij wrote on February 4, 2023 at 3:37 PM

10.15%? That was a deal. We had 12% and were thrilled to get it after seeing rates as high as 18%.

movdqa t1_j778isn wrote on February 4, 2023 at 4:45 PM

I certainly remember those days. Rates at 18% eventually killed housing prices setting up nice deals to buy at. You just had to have enough for a down payment and then you could refinance as rates got cut in half.

BALLS_SMOOTH_AS_EGGS t1_j7b2d5n wrote on February 5, 2023 at 1:44 PM

This is correct. It is highly unlikely we'll ever see under 4 percent rates again in our lifetime. I was disappointed when I closed on my first house last year at 5 percent, until I realized historically that's still quite low. It wasn't uncommon to see 8 - 12 percent interest rates not too long ago.