According to the latest housing demand report from real estate industry analytics group Redfin, autumn 2013 seems to be bucking annual trends in terms of how many Americans are looking at new properties. However, explaining the cause of this phenomenon has proven challenging to experts in the field, as current market conditions seem to indicate that the opportune time to purchase a new property may have come and gone.
Despite steady increases in property values across the country and interest rates on mortgages climbing farther and farther north of the all-time lows borrowers enjoyed earlier in the year, market activity had inched up 7.8 percent by the end of October compared to a month earlier. Last year – and almost every other October in recent memory – the number of offers made on homes for sale was down from the previous month, with offers for October 2012 dropping 3.8 percent.
"Since mid-September, mortgage rates have done an about-face thanks to the Fed's decision to keep its stimulus program in place, providing extra incentive for buyers to continue their search," Ellen Haberle, a Redfin economist, said in a press release. "Moreover, competition is dropping steadily, which is helping to boost buyers' negotiating power. For buyers who have contended with heavy competition and rising rates and prices in 2013, these changes are a breath of fresh air."
Whether or not the unpredictable real estate market affects your investments positively or negatively, it is in your best interest to do all you can to find asset protection and wealth management to protect your money during these uncertain times.