If you’re considering purchasing a new home, you may be waiting for mortgage rates to drop.
And while South Florida tends to go its own way when it comes to national housing trends, one real estate expert says we could still see some relief next year.
According to Redfin’s 2024 real estate forecast, mortgage rates are expected to decline steadily next year.
The online real estate company predicts 30-year mortgage rates will fall into the 6% range, which is good news for potential buyers.
“With rates already falling, interest rates and this little bug, this perception of buyers, especially first-time home buyers who have been on the sidelines for over a year now waiting for rates to are going down, it’s already triggering, I guess you could say, the hype that it’s time to buy,” said real estate broker Elisha Lopez.
Lopez is a broker who owns a real estate company in Florida and she told NBC6 that an increase in demand could impact prices.
“There’s more inventory now, but if you flood the market again with buyers who are going to start looking anyway, and then all these buyers waiting, the natural thing that’s going to happen is prices are going to go up because that there’s more inventory. there’s still so much demand,” Lopez said.
Redfin says it expects new listings and home sales to increase in 2024 and also expects prices to decline significantly in parts of coastal Florida, such as Cape Coral, as the risk of natural disasters increases. increase the cost of home insurance.
Still, Lopez expects Miami to continue to be a very competitive real estate market.
Southeast Florida has always been its own little market, completely different than any other place in Florida and across the country,” Lopez said. “And that is, of course, because of the international melting pot and the fact that everyone wants to be in Miami.”
So if you’re thinking about buying next year, especially if you’re a first-time home buyer, be sure to connect with a real estate agent who can guide you through the process.
Lopez said there are still plenty of financing options to help people looking to buy their first home and you can even find sellers willing to pay closing costs.
This is especially likely if a listing has been on the market for a while.
And his final advice is to negotiate. Even in a competitive real estate market like South Florida’s, Lopez said there’s always more room to negotiate a better deal.
