The residential real estate market continues to be blazing hot as we move towards summer. Even though interest rates have started to creep up to the low 3% range, up from their all-time lows in the 2% range, they are still at near historical lows when looking at the big picture. This is keeping many hopeful buyers out there looking to lock in those low rates for the next 30 years.
From my perspective on the frontlines, new inventory appears to be slightly increasing each week vs earlier in the year when there would be only a handful of new listings entering each week. As expected with the nicer weather, more sellers are able to get outside and complete repairs to list their homes. However, buyers still outnumber the available inventory by a significant margin. This is still resulting in frequent multiple offer situations, significant over asking offers, and very attractive terms for sellers.
There is no sign of the competition loosening up yet. However, if more and more homes start hitting the market soon, hopefully, that alleviates the buyer competition by spreading out the buyers more. Other than that, Fannie Mae, the federal national mortgage association, has recently tightened up loan requirements for investment and second home policies. Fannie Mae is requiring these types of buyers to put down more money. Hopefully, these stricter policies will reduce competition for owner-occupied buyers. Stay tuned to see what the summer real estate market brings us.