Donaldo Pactol-ChicagolandPinoyrealtor.

09/22/2026

Facts!!! 100%.

09/20/2026

“Why are people looking at $500,000 houses? Just buy a starter home.”

The problem is, starter-home prices didn’t stay starter-home prices.

In 2000, home prices were at a level we can call 100 for comparison.

By June 2026, that same measure was around 337.

In plain English: home prices are more than three times higher than they were in 2000.

They’re also roughly 82% higher than they were at the 2006 housing-bubble peak.

That’s why telling buyers to “just buy something cheaper” sounds easier than it actually is.

Because now you have expensive homes being financed with expensive money.

Mortgage rates are hovering around 7%, and that can add hundreds or even thousands of dollars to the monthly payment compared with the low-rate years.

A buyer can have a decent job, good credit, money saved for a down payment, and still open Zillow thinking:

“Who exactly is affording this?”

Redfin estimates a household now needs around $110,000 a year to afford the typical U.S. home, about $22,000 more than the typical household earns.

And here’s the part that matters:

Home prices are not skyrocketing every month right now.

The problem is they already skyrocketed.

Today’s buyer is dealing with much higher home prices, nearly 7% mortgage rates, property taxes, insurance, repairs, and wages that did not triple along with housing.

So yes, “just buy a starter home” sounds like simple advice.

Until you realize the starter home grew up, got expensive, and now wants a six-figure household income too.

09/18/2026

Home sellers hoping to cash in may have to lower their expectations after the Fed's latest rate hike.

Real estate experts say higher borrowing costs are shrinking the pool of qualified buyers, leaving more homes sitting on the market longer and forcing more sellers to cut prices.

Buyers, meanwhile, may have to wait for a better mortgage environment before making a move.

The Fed's first interest rate hike since 2023 has already pushed refinance rates higher, adding more pressure on both sides of the housing market.

09/15/2026

Very true 😂😂.

09/08/2026

Mortgage rates on Friday:

Freddie Mac: 6.71%
Bankrate: 6.83%
Mortgage News Daily: 6.89%

Three numbers. Same day. 😂

Huh? They all measure rates differently.

The only mortgage rate that actually matters is the one YOU can get. 🏡

08/27/2026

73% of REALTORS still haven’t closed a deal this year.

Is being a realtor over?...🤔

08/26/2026

Imagine giving up a 3% mortgage to buy the exact same house at 6.7%.

That's the math keeping millions of homeowners exactly where they are.

Redfin's July report found an estimated 966,752 active homebuyers in the market, the lowest number ever recorded. But the real story isn't just about buyers disappearing. It's about sellers disappearing too, and there's a clear reason why.

Roughly half of homeowners with a mortgage right now are locked into a rate below 4%. Many refinanced or bought during 2020 through 2022, when rates sat near historic lows.

Today's average 30-year rate is running closer to 6.7 to 6.8%. Selling means walking away from that old rate entirely and financing a new home at nearly double the cost, even if the new home is worth the exact same amount as the one they're leaving.

That's the mechanism economists call the lock-in effect, and it's a huge part of why sellers, motivated or not, are simply choosing to stay put instead of listing.

Sellers currently outnumber buyers by 51.3%, the second highest gap ever recorded and roughly double what it was just two years ago. Nearly 80% of major U.S. metros are now considered buyer's markets, meaning sellers outnumber buyers by more than 10%, with Miami leading the country at a 154% surplus.

Here's the part that makes this different from a typical buyer's market though. Normally, more sellers than buyers means falling prices and easier negotiations.

But since so many current owners genuinely don't need to sell, price drops have stayed fairly modest so far. Sellers who are listing tend to be the ones who have to, job relocations, divorces, downsizing, not people chasing a quick sale.

If you're a buyer wondering why there's more competition among sellers but prices haven't dropped as much as you'd expect, this is why.

The people who'd normally be flooding the market with listings are sitting on a mortgage rate they'll probably never see again, and for most of them, that's reason enough to stay exactly where they are.

08/22/2026

https://www.wbez.org/housing/2026/08/20/cook-county-board-of-review-urges-residents-to-start-appeals-for-2026-tax-bills-after-recent-storm-damage

The second installment of 2025 property tax bills are expected to hit mailboxes on or before Sept. 1, according to the board.

08/19/2026

Something interesting is happening in the housing market right now.

And if you’re waiting for mortgage rates to come down before buying, this is worth understanding.

Right now, the average 30-year mortgage rate is about 6.67%.

At the same time, 1 out of every 5 homes for sale had a price cut in July.

Home asking prices nationally are also down 2.4% from this time last year.

In plain English:

Sellers are having to compete for buyers right now.

And that’s important.

Because a buyer today may be able to negotiate something that was nearly impossible a few years ago:

A lower price.

Seller-paid closing costs.

Money toward buying down the interest rate.

Or sometimes a combination of those things.

But here’s what I think a lot of people miss when they say:

“I’m just going to wait until rates come down.”

If rates eventually drop, they don’t only drop for you.

They drop for everyone.

The people who stopped looking because the payment was too high?

Some of them can afford to start looking again.

The people sitting on the sidelines waiting for a better rate?

Some of them come back too.

And we’ve already seen how sensitive buyers are to changes in rates. Mortgage applications increased 3.6% in just one week in the latest report.

So yes.. a lower rate could give you a better monthly payment.

But it could also mean you’re shopping against more buyers and negotiating with sellers who don’t need to give as much away.

That’s the part nobody can see by looking at the interest rate alone.

So instead of asking:

“Should I buy now or wait for rates to come down?”

I’d ask a better question:

“What would I actually gain by waiting?”

Because that’s something we can put numbers to.

Take the house you’re considering today.

Calculate the payment.

Calculate what you could realistically negotiate from the seller.

Then compare that with what the same house would look like at a lower interest rate.

Maybe waiting saves you money.

Maybe today’s deal is actually better.

Either answer is fine.

But that’s a much better way to make a six-figure decision than trying to guess what mortgage rates will do next.

CTTO.

08/12/2026

It's cheaper to rent than buy in every major metro in America. Until that flips, the market stays frozen and everyone keeps calling it a crash.

CTTO.