All Things Real Estate with Darrius McClure

05/19/2023

The Impact of Changing Mortgage Rates [INFOGRAPHIC]

If you’re looking to buy a home, you should know even a small change in mortgage rates has an impact on your purchasing power. These charts show how rates generally affect your monthly payment. The best way to navigate changing mortgage rates and make an informed buying decision is to rely on the expertise of a local real estate professional and mortgage lender.

If you’re looking to buy a home, you should know even a small change in mortgage rates has an impact on your purchasing power.

05/18/2023

Powerful Job Market Fuels Homebuyer Demand

The spring housing market has been surprisingly active this year. Even with affordability challenges and a limited number of homes for sale, buyer demand is strong, and getting stronger.

One way we know there are interested buyers right now is because showing traffic from ShowingTime is up. And though there’s less traffic than the buyer frenzy of the past couple years, we’re not far off that pace. There are a lot of interested buyers checking out available homes right now.

But why are buyers so active at a time when mortgage rates are higher than they were just last year?

>>The Job Market Is Growing at a Stronger-Than-Expected Pace
It might surprise you just how strong today’s job market is. What might be even more surprising is the fact that it appears to be getting stronger. 88,000 more jobs were created in April than in March. In fact, the April numbers beat expert projectio...

The spring housing market has been surprisingly active this year.

05/17/2023

What You Need To Know About Home Price News

NAR will release its latest Existing Home Sales Report tomorrow. The information it contains on home prices may cause some confusion and could even generate some troubling headlines. This all stems from the fact that NAR will report the median sales price, while other home price indices report repeat sales prices. The vast majority of the repeat sales indices show prices are starting to appreciate again. But the median price reported on Thursday may tell a different story.

Here’s why using the median home price as a gauge of what’s happening with home values isn’t ideal right now. According to the Center for Real Studies at Wichita State University, “The median sale price measures the ‘middle’ price of homes that sold, meaning that half of the homes sold for a higher price and half sold for less. While this is a good measure of the typical sale price, it is not very useful for...

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) will release its latest Existing Home Sales Report tomorrow.

05/16/2023

The Worst Home Price Declines Are Behind Us

If you’re following the news today, you may feel a bit unsure about what’s happening with home prices and fear whether or not the worst is yet to come. That’s because today’s headlines are painting an unnecessarily negative picture. Contrary to those headlines, home prices aren’t in a freefall. The latest data tells a very different and much more positive story. Local home price trends still vary by market, but here’s what the national data tells us.

If we take a year-over-year view, home prices stayed positive – they just appreciated more slowly than they did at the peak of the pandemic. To get a more detailed picture of some of the trends in the market, we need to look at monthly data.

In the first half of 2022, home prices were climbing, and they peaked in June. Then, in July, they started to decline. And by roughly August or September, the trend began to stabilize...

If you’re following the news today, you may feel a bit unsure about what’s happening with home prices and fear whether or not the worst is yet to come.

05/15/2023

Homeowners Have Incredible Equity To Leverage Right Now

Even though home prices have moderated over the last year, many homeowners still have an incredible amount of equity. But what is equity? In the simplest terms, equity is the difference between the market value of your home and the amount you owe on your mortgage. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) explains how your equity grows over time. “Housing wealth (home equity or net worth) gains are built up through price appreciation and by paying off the mortgage.”

The equity you build up over the years can be used to your advantage when you sell your current house and buy your next home. If you no longer have the space you need, it might be time to move into a larger home. Or it’s possible you have too much space and need something smaller. No matter the situation, your equity can be a powerful tool you can use to help you make a move in today’s market. T...

Even though home prices have moderated over the last year, many homeowners still have an incredible amount of equity.

05/12/2023

The Worst of the Home Price Declines Is Behind Us [INFOGRAPHIC]

While home prices vary by local area, they’ve already hit their low point nationally, and now they’re starting to rise again. Last July, prices started to decline, but around February, they began climbing back up. If you put your plans to move on hold waiting to see what would happen with home prices, DM me to discuss if now’s the right time to jump back in.

While home prices vary by local area, they’ve already hit their low point nationally, and now they’re starting to rise again.

05/11/2023

The Best Time To Sell Your House Is When Others Aren’t Selling

If you’re thinking about selling your house, you should know the number of homes for sale right now is low. That’s because, this season, there are fewer sellers listing their houses for sale than the norm.

Looking back at every April since 2017, the only year when fewer sellers listed their homes was in April 2020, when the pandemic hit and stalled the housing market. In more typical years, roughly 500,000 sellers add their homes to the market in April. This year, we saw fewer than 400,000 sellers entering the market in April.

While there are a number of factors contributing to this trend, one thing keeping inventory low right now is that some homeowners are reluctant to move when the mortgage rate they have on their current house is lower than the one they could get today on their next house. It’s called rate lock.

As a recent survey from Realtor.c...

If you’re thinking about selling your house, you should know the number of homes for sale right now is low.

05/10/2023

The Impact of Inflation on Mortgage Rates

If you’re reading headlines about inflation or mortgage rates, you may see something about the recent decision from the Federal Reserve (the Fed). But what does it mean for you, the housing market, and your plans to buy a home? Here’s what you need to know.

While the Fed’s working hard to lower inflation, the latest data shows that, while the number has improved some, the inflation rate is still higher than the target (2%). That played a role in the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise the Federal Funds Rate last week. While the Fed’s actions don’t directly dictate what happens with mortgage rates, their decisions do have an impact and contributed to the intentional cooldown in the housing market last year.

During times of high inflation, your everyday expenses go up. That means you’ve likely felt the pinch at the gas pump and in the grocery store. By raising the Federa...

If you’re reading headlines about inflation or mortgage rates, you may see something about the recent decision from the Federal Reserve.

05/09/2023

Why Today’s Housing Market Is Not About To Crash

There’s been some concern lately that the housing market is headed for a crash. And given some of the affordability challenges in the housing market, along with a lot of recession talk in the media, it’s easy enough to understand why that worry has come up. But the data clearly shows today’s market is very different than it was before the housing crash in 2008. Rest assured, this isn’t a repeat of what happened back then. Here’s why.

>>It’s Harder To Get a Loan Now
It was much easier to get a home loan during the lead-up to the 2008 housing crisis than it is today. Things are different now as purchasers face increasingly higher standards from mortgage companies.

>>Unemployment Recovered Faster This Time
While the pandemic caused unemployment to spike over the last couple of years, the jobless rate has already recovered back to pre-pandemic levels. Because so many...

There’s been some concern lately that the housing market is headed for a crash.

05/08/2023

It May Be Time To Consider a Newly Built Home

If you’re looking to buy a house, you may find today’s limited supply of homes available for sale challenging. If you need to open up your pool of options, it may be time to consider a newly built home.

According to the U.S. Census, there’s positive news when it comes to new home construction. More new homes were completed and are ready to sell. Builders broke ground and started construction on more single-family homes. And the number of permits for building new single-family homes ticked up.

There are other perks that come with considering a newly built home:
>>Customization
When you buy a new home under construction, you can tailor it to your unique needs and taste.

>>Brand New Everything
Another perk of a new home is that nothing in the house is used. It’s all brand new and uniquely yours from day one.

>>Minimal Repairs
And, because everything is new, you’ll likely...

If you’re looking to buy a house, you may find today’s limited supply of homes available for sale challenging.

04/07/2023

Homeownership is a hedge against inflation. Let’s connect if you’re ready to start the homebuying process.