Aarthi Swaminathan
5 min read
Nora Douglas was looking to buy a home in Atlanta in January but then hit the brakes on her search.
The 27-year-old works in software in the healthcare industry and was looking to buy a multifamily property where she could live in one unit and rent the others out. She already owned a duplex and was looking to expand her real-estate portfolio with a second purchase.
Douglas was keen on buying in January to get a jump on the spring home-buying season, which is normally busy. “I usually have this theory that things tend to be cheaper during the winter,” she said. But mortgage rates were so high in January — over 7% — that she decided to put her money into the stock market instead.
Since then, the housing market has slowed down meaningfully, and Douglas has decided to jump back in. As sellers become increasingly frustrated, buyers like Douglas are seeing opportunities.
“Properties are staying on the market for much longer. Listing agents are slashing prices by the tens of thousands [of dollars],” she said. “Even though interest rates are high, buyers have a lot of options right now, so I think it’s a really good time right now for buyers.”
The average rate for a 30-year mortgage was 6.86% as of May 22, according to Freddie Mac FMCC.
Douglas isn’t the only one feeling more optimistic about the housing market as it tilts away from sellers and toward buyers in many parts of the U.S. Homes are taking longer to sell and inventory is rising quickly, giving buyers in some markets plenty of choices for the first time in years.
“With housing inventory levels reaching five-year highs, home buyers in nearly every region of the country are in a better position to negotiate more favorable terms,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said in a statement.
Read more: Home sellers face an ‘absolutely brutal’ market that’s tilting in buyers’ favor
Pending home sales fell in April as buyers pulled back amid economic uncertainty and volatility in the financial markets.
