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Interest Rates Headed Back Down?

After topping out at just over 6% earlier this summer, home mortgage rates have fallen back below 5%. That's good news for buyers who were stuck in an affordability gap after rates doubled since the start of the year. It's also good for sellers who need those buyers to keep showing up in order to get top-dollar for their house.

Prices Continue to Climb

Speaking of getting top dollar, rising interest rates and lessesing of buyer intensity has not stopped price increases. Ocean and Monmouth County homesellers continue to experience year-over-year gains in their home valuations as you can see in the data below.

What's Next

Where do we go from here and what will be the impact on the residential real estate market?

First, we must recognize the strong and unbreakable bond between the housing market and the economy. The housing market and consumer behavior are two fundamental elements of the economy so when we consider where residential real estate is headed then we must also consider where the economy is headed.

After a bruising few quarters and red-hot inflation, we're now seeing the first signs of the velocity of inflation (how fast prices rise) decreasing. The stock market has begun marking gains again and while we're certainly not out the woods yet, it appears if we can just get past this inflationary period then we'll be setup for a strong, long-term comeback.

Second, let's look at where we are in the grand scheme of things. We're in a geographic area that is a major destination within about an hour of two major cities and we hug the Atlantic Ocean. Our area is incredibly desirable especially when one considers the lack of space to build and the obvious benefits of living near the water. People want to be here, whether that's for a vacation, a primary home or a second "beach" home.

Finally, pull those threads together (tough but rebounding and fundamentally strong economy, highly desirable area, nowhere to build new homes) and you have the recipe for continuing, albeit slower, home price growth at the Jersey Shore. Assuming the economy doesn't fall off a cliff, homeowners should be able to rest easy, secure in their home values and knowing those values should continue to climb, perhaps just not as quickly as the last 2 years.

Interested in what your home may be worth NOW? Just reply to this message with your address or text it to me at 732-965-7990 and I'll get back to you ASAP with a custom, up-to-date free home value analysis.