Are People Buying Houses Right Now?

The fall was very slow in real estate sales due to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates so abruptly.  Then in November inflation started to ease.  30 year mortgage rates dropped.  In one month's time interest rates went down by more than 1%.  Too bad it was Thanksgiving and then Christmas when rates dropped, which is when home buyer activity typically slows down, but it has lead to new home buyer interest in 2023.  The Mortgage Banker's Association just reported a 27.9% increase in mortgage applications in January 2023.  That means that buyers are hitting the market again.  FreddieMac.com is reporting that 30 year fixed rates are around 6.15% in late January.

First time home buyers are up from 28% of the market to 31% of the market in January per the Realtors Confidence Index of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). 57% of those polled said that homes sold within less than 1 month.  Homes listed are also reported to be receiving 2.2 offers per home.

All in all, residential real estate seems to be looking up for 2023.  All eyes are on the overall economy, but Chattanooga's local economy is very strong. Realtor.com has even placed Chattanooga as one of their top 10 real estate markets for 2023.

One thing is certain, when all other home buyers pull away from a market, that is usually a good time to buy.  You will have less competition and pricing should be better than 1 year ago after the pandemic mass migration.