I (Lee) live in a house with a six year old, a four year old, and an 18 month old who have been very excitedly planning their Halloween costumes. As usual, I will also be assigned a costume, and this year I have been told I am going as a bear. While I know we will all have a lot of fun, I was hoping that my costume would have included a crystal ball!
Normally as we head into fall, real estate sales slow down. However, according to the Real Estate Information Network (Hampton Road’s multiple listing service) September 2016 had only 8% fewer home sales than May 2016. Plus the number of homes listed for sale continues to decrease in both year over year numbers (comparing September 2016 to September 2015) and from month to month (comparing August 2016 to September 2016). From a seller’s point of view, the lower number of homes for sale, the better.
Interest rates for thirty year home loans remain amazing. Based on a study by the Federal Bank of St. Louis, they were averaging 3.47% for the week of October 13, 2016. As you can see from the chart below covering the last forty five years, that is almost a record low:
