Housing market update

I’ve discussed this some months ago, but I’m still on the lookout for a house.
The housing market has been brutal these last four years especially, I wished I’d bought in 2029 looking back, but even that seemed expensive, to me.

I keep browsing the listings online and seeing if there’s anything that appeals to me but is reasonably priced.

I’ve run the numbers multiple times, and I’ve been saving for so long now that I have enough that I could make enough down payment to still afford a house.

But given where we are in the real estate cycle of todays prices, along with rates, I’m not sure that’s necessarily wise.

I’m just really ready to move on. I have my eye on a new construction home that I could see myself living in for a long time. It’s in a great location, and backs up to woods, which I like. It has most of the things I’d like to have but aren’t essentials (like a 2 car garage, vaulted ceilings and an extra bedroom to use as hobbies and an office).

It being new construction would also mean much lower insurance premiums, and hopefully less big stuff to need replacing for a whole (like roof, septic, HVAC). I’d like to have a rear screened porch, which this doesn’t offer, but it does have a patio that I could add one of those metal type screen porches on.

This week another similarly sized but existing (2006) house came up for sale that I like everything about (new roof, 2 car garage, vaulted ceilings, beautiful oak kitchen cabinets, very nice laundry room, big screened back porch) for $280k. But my work commute would double from 15 to 30 minutes a day. So I’m not sure it’d be great in that respect.

Really I’m just concerned as I hate to have to put such a big down payment and realize later on that I could’ve waited and prices would’ve come down $100k or such back to 2019 prices. But I really don’t know if it’s going to happen. The only time I’m aware of prices falling that much was in the aftermath of 2008. This situation, has a lot of differences than that. There are some similarities though, so I cannot rule it out.

All I know is that if there is a crash it isn’t going to happen tomorrow, and I’m frankly tired of waiting and only seeing prices go up every year. OTOH, I don’t want to end up underwater and have a foreclosure.

Anyway I keep daydreaming about these houses and how I’d use the spaces and I keep running budget costs and what I’d have left and just debating it.

Also it could just be the winter season which I know is the slowest real estate wise, but houses in my area are just not selling at all as quickly as they were. I don’t know if it’s the higher interest rates or if people are waiting for prices to come down. I suppose things could pick up this summer again and I could regret not buying when it was slow, but I just can’t envision prices being able to go up more than they have.

I really just don’t know what to do.


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Post# 469828 2/25/2024 at 12:14 by fan-of-fans (USA)
Checkrate/Likes I’ve discussed this some months ago, but I’m still on the lookout for a house. The housing market has been brutal these last four years especially, I wished I’d bought in 2029 looking back, but even that seemed expensive, to me. I keep browsing the listings online and seeing if there’s anything that appeals to me but is reasonably priced. I’ve run the numbers multiple times, and I’ve been saving for so long now that I have enough that I could make enough down payment to still afford a house. But given where we are in the real estate cycle of todays prices, along with rates, I’m not sure that’s necessarily wise. I’m just really ready to move on. I have my eye on a new construction home that I could see myself living in for a long time. It’s in a great location, and backs up to woods, which I like. It has most of the things I’d like to have but aren’t essentials (like a 2 car garage, vaulted ceilings and an extra bedroom to use as hobbies and an office). It being new construction would also mean much lower insurance premiums, and hopefully less big stuff to need replacing for a whole (like roof, septic, HVAC). I’d like to have a rear screened porch, which this doesn’t offer, but it does have a patio that I could add one of those metal type screen porches on. This week another similarly sized but existing (2006) house came up for sale that I like everything about (new roof, 2 car garage, vaulted ceilings, beautiful oak kitchen cabinets, very nice laundry room, big screened back porch) for $280k. But my work commute would double from 15 to 30 minutes a day. So I’m not sure it’d be great in that respect. Really I’m just concerned as I hate to have to put such a big down payment and realize later on that I could’ve waited and prices would’ve come down $100k or such back to 2019 prices. But I really don’t know if it’s going to happen. The only time I’m aware of prices falling that much was in the aftermath of 2008. This situation, has a lot of differences than that. There are some similarities though, so I cannot rule it out. All I know is that if there is a crash it isn’t going to happen tomorrow, and I’m frankly tired of waiting and only seeing prices go up every year. OTOH, I don’t want to end up underwater and have a foreclosure. Anyway I keep daydreaming about these houses and how I’d use the spaces and I keep running budget costs and what I’d have left and just debating it. Also it could just be the winter season which I know is the slowest real estate wise, but houses in my area are just not selling at all as quickly as they were. I don’t know if it’s the higher interest rates or if people are waiting for prices to come down. I suppose things could pick up this summer again and I could regret not buying when it was slow, but I just can’t envision prices being able to go up more than they have. I really just don’t know what to do.

Post# 469834 , Reply# 1 2/25/2024 at 15:26 by huskyvacs (Gnaw Bone, Indiana)
Checkrate/Likes 2 Look for fixer uppers or reposessed houses, tons of them in my area for $20,000 and less. All old Sears houses or 2 story houses. Firebombed, vandalized, water damage, etc but better to fix up over time then to try and totally renovate all in one month. You won't find a good used house anymore as foreign agents from Iran, China, Russia, are taking all the real estate and renting them out as Air BnB homes or rentals with extremely high fees. Houses are very cheap you just can't have high expectations and waste money. A house will continually lose money year over year so there is no point shelling out so much money for a house that will be worth less than 60% of that in your lifetime. Get it as cheap as possible, fix it up to how you like it, enjoy it and never sell it. Job done. Photos... < > Photo 1 of 2 View Full Size

Post# 469847 , Reply# 2 2/25/2024 at 21:42 by Human (Pines of Carolina)
Checkrate/Likes 2 The market around here seems to be cooling off a bit, or maybe just reaching a plateau. Prices aren't coming down much, if at all. They're just not going up like they were. For the most part, they're just staying at or near the stratospheric levels to which they rose three or four years ago. I'm glad I was able to buy my house in 2014, when things were just starting to recover from the 2008 crash. Comparable houses are now selling for more than twice what I paid for mine. And sure, I could sell it and reap the cash rewards, but then where would I move? To buy another house, I'd likely have to spend all of the proceeds from this house, plus more. Not worth it, IMO.