4 Comments

1. 

   Name on May 24, 2018 at 5:23 pm

   Jim – Why do you say that rates can’t go much higher? They’re still historically very low, right?

2. 

   Jim the Realtor on May 24, 2018 at 6:42 pm

   They’re still historically very low, right?

   The economists say that, but they aren’t on the street buying houses every day.

   Home buyers who have been looking for the last 6-12 months think rates have gone up 1%, which they have.

   There is a psychological impact that comes with rising rates, and it is natural for buyers to expect home prices to come down to compensate. So far, they have had to cope with rising prices AND rates this year. How long will that continue?

   If rates get into the fives, the market as we have known it lately will be O-V-E-R.

3. 

   Name on May 24, 2018 at 9:06 pm

   Ah, so not: ‘Rates can’t go higher because of economic forces that will hold them down.’

   But more like: ‘Rates can’t go much higher if we’re going to stay on the trajectory we’ve been on.’

4. 

   Jim the Realtor on May 25, 2018 at 5:44 am

   Whatever.

   I don’t think we are going to ‘stay on the trajectory we’ve been on’ regardless of rates. The NSDCC sales are already down 9% YoY, and if it gets any harder to sell, there will need to be some dramatic shifts in ego among sellers and agents alike just for prices to plateau.

   I have one right now where the listing agent countered $2,500 higher than he said he would, and then says ‘let’s don’t quibble over a couple of bucks’. Well, you just did, and as a result he is just begging for us to counter, which we did.

   If he would have done what he said he was going to do, then we probably would have had a deal. And now we probably won’t.