After the Covid-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve had to do something to help curb inflation. Typically they raise the benchmark interest rate to accomplish that goal. The benchmark rate increases the rates that banks charge each other for overnight loans. They pass those rate hikes along to consumers by charging higher interest rates on their mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, and other financial instruments. Typically, consumers cut back on their spending in response. This slows price increases, and in some cases brings prices back much lower.

These measures by the Federal Reserve have done a lot to bring inflation back in line, much quicker than in many other countries. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage had been down around 2% after the Fed slashed rates to try and stimulate the economy. Now rates are hanging around 8%. This has caused many people to rethink selling their homes because they don’t want to trade a 2% rate on an existing mortgage, for a new mortgage at an 8% rate. The smaller supply of homes for sale is keeping prices higher than they should be considering the rate hikes. This is making the housing market seem abnormal right now, but it is a result of a lot of factors working together in a way that even the Federal Reserve didn’t exactly predict. It is unclear if there will be additional rate hikes, or if additional hikes could lead to a recession. Whatever happens, expect to need more money to pay for a home and expect your payment to be larger than it would have been a few years ago due to the increased mortgage interest rates.

If you are curious about what your home is worth or if it’s a good time for you to buy, give us a call at 803-831-8588. We would love to share our perspective on Lake Wylie and the Charlotte area. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

When you look at the Greater Lake Wylie area, you see the same trend. There are just 129 homes listed for sale, down 24.1% from 170 homes last June. Only 81 sales closed in June, down 39.1% from 133 last June. Pending sales were down 20% from 120 down to 96. This means that closed sales will likely be down next month as those pending sales head to the closing table. New listings are down 38.9% from 185 last June to 113 this June.

Prices are still on the rise in the Greater Lake Wylie area. The average home price in June was down just slightly, 3% down from $682,560 last year to $662,252 this year. List prices are on the rise however, with the average list price up 21.7% from $596,559 last year to $726,308 this year. This could be the result of a few large listings as the smaller sample size can skew the statistics. For example, a few waterfront homes with prices over $1 million could bring the average up substantially.

Homes are staying on the market longer than the quick sales of last year. The average time on the market before a sale was 25 days, up from 15 days last June. This means that sellers have to be patient and wait for an offer that might not come the same weekend that they list their homes for sale. For buyers, it means that they can take their time a little bit more and not feel quite so rushed on the biggest single investment they will probably make.

If you are curious about what your home is worth or if it’s a good time for you to buy, give us a call at 803-831-8588. We would love to share our perspective on Lake Wylie and the Charlotte area. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

It used to be that the only homes on the lake that commanded a large price tag of $1 million or more were waterfront properties. In the past year, there were more properties that sold for above $1 million that had no water frontage at all. Many of these homes had large lots, and equally large homes of 5,000 square feet or more of heated living area.

With prices on the rise with inflation and high demand of people moving to the area, we will undoubtedly see more homes creep above that $1 million threshold. In addition, more luxury neighborhoods are being built in the area as Lake Wylie is a great commuter destination.

There are also more homes listed recently that approach $1 million. There are currently 4 homes listed for sale in the $900,000’s. Eleven homes sold in the last year in Lake Wylie that were in the $900,000’s, and many of them were not waterfront properties. This shows that Lake Wylie is a hot ticket and there is high demand pushing prices higher than before. This poises Lake Wylie to be a luxury destination and with great schools and more restaurants and shopping destination coming this way, it should be a great choice for years to come.

If you are curious about what your home is worth or if it’s a good time for you to buy, give us a call at 803-831-8588. We would love to share our perspective on Lake Wylie and the Charlotte area. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

Climate change is one of the major reasons for hikes in rates. Insurance companies have had to pay out big settlements in places like Florida due to more and worse hurricanes. Homeowners there are paying up to 4 times higher premiums if they can get coverage at all. Wildfires are making premiums rise in California and Colorado as well with some of the major carriers like State Farm and Allstate not writing new policies in those areas.

Reinsurance rate hikes, the type of insurance used by insurance companies to limit their risks has risen by up to 40%. They have been losing money for the past five years so they have to raise rates to cover their losses. These costs have to be shared among the pool of customers causing rates to rise as well.

The increase in frequency and severity of natural disasters means that these costs are not just temporary. Rates are expected to stay high with no reprieve. If you have an escrow account set up as part of your mortgage, you will see your monthly payment go up if your insurance rates rise. If you pay your insurance separately, you should call your agent to make sure you aren’t going to be hit with a much higher bill that you aren’t ready for.

Luckily, the Charlotte region has not had many natural disasters lately. It is rare for a hurricane to hit this far inland, but it has happened before as in the case of Hurricane Hugo. This means that we should see much less significant rate hikes than if we were in a coastal area or wildfire prone area. It is still a good idea to check with your insurance agent to review your policy.

If you are curious about what your home is worth or if it’s a good time for you to buy, give us a call at 803-831-8588. We would love to share our perspective on Lake Wylie and the Charlotte area. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

In addition to the longer time on the market, there are more homes on the market giving buyers more choices than they have had in a long time. There are now 4,667 homes listed for sale, up to a 1.3 month supply of inventory. This is a far cry from the 4-6 month supply which signals a balanced market between buyers and sellers. This means that we are still in the persisting sellers market.

From this same report from the Canopy Realtor Association, you can see data for the Lake Wylie area. When you look into the numbers, you see some of the same trends. Homes are staying on the market for an average of 41 days before going under contract. This is up 141.2% from the 17 day average last May.

Prices seem to be holding steady in Lake Wylie. Average sales prices are down just 0.1% to $604,508. Sellers are still getting an average of 98.6% of list price from their homes. We are seeing a slowdown in the market, which typically happens during the summer months, but didn’t happen last year in the frenzy of sales before this slowdown.

This slowdown doesn’t mean that now is a bad time to list your home. It just means that you have to be prepared that it could take a month or more before you get a contract on your home instead of getting multiple offers the first day.

If you are curious about what your home is worth or if it’s a good time for you to buy, give us a call at 803-831-8588. We would love to share our perspective on Lake Wylie and the Charlotte area. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

When you look at the numbers for the Greater Lake Wylie area, you see a slightly different picture. Inventory is actually up a little bit year over year, from 85 homes for sale up to 87 homes this April. Prices are rising both for average price – up 8.9% to $658,146, and median price – up 1.3% to $550,000.

Homes in Lake Wylie are spending more time on the market before a sale, now 31 cumulative days as opposed to 15 days last April, an increase of 106.7%. This is great news for buyers as they don’t have to rush quite so much. For sellers, it isn’t all bad news as we still are only seeing 31 days on average so some homes are still selling as soon as they are listed.

The bad news for home buyers is that homes are once again selling for over list price on average. It’s not the 102% of list price from last April, but it is still 100.1% meaning that some homes are going for more than that while others can still sell for under list price.

We are seeing a 50% dip in new listings right now which means that inventory could dip in the coming months. Pending sales and closed sales are all down from the frenzy of last year. This should bring the market more into balance and is a mark that the measures to stop inflation could be starting to work.

If you are curious about what your home is worth or if it’s a good time for you to buy, give us a call at 803-831-8588. We would love to share our perspective on Lake Wylie and the Charlotte area. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

An all cash offer means that as a buyer, you don’t have to secure a mortgage when you purchase a property. You either have the cash on hand, or can raise the cash from other assets or investments to purchase a home. This can significantly cut down on the time between when you go under contract on a home and when you head to the closing table because you don’t have to wait for a loan package to be created. Since buying a home is typically the single biggest investment you will make, that means having a lot of money that is not tied up in other assets so you can hand it over (or wire transfer it) at the time of closing. This puts all cash offers out of reach for most homebuyers.

Corporate investors make up a large portion of cash offers, with individuals relocating from higher priced markets making up most of the rest. There are now companies you can use to help you make an all cash offer, by giving you cash up front, then after closing, a mortgage is issued on the property. These kinds of transactions can be great, but can also be very stressful, and may incur additional fees or command higher interest rates due to the risks involved.

An all cash offer is typically viewed as being stronger than an offer that is contingent on the buyer securing financing. If you find yourself in a multiple-offer situation, that is the time you would want to have an all cash offer so you can have a stronger position than your competition. This year we are seeing significantly fewer homes with multiple offers so if you don’t have the cash to make an all cash offer, this type of transaction may not be necessary to win the home of your dreams.

If you are curious about what your home is worth or if it’s a good time for you to buy, give us a call at 803-831-8588. We would love to share our perspective on Lake Wylie and the Charlotte area. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

When you look at the data for the Lake Wylie area, you see the same trend. There are now 135 homes for sale, up 121.3% from the 61 homes for sale last March. These homes are staying on the market for an average of 51 days before they sell, up 121.7% from the 23 days last March. These homes are selling for an average of 95.9% of list price, down 6.4% from the 102.5% of list price they were selling for last year at this time. This shows that there is room for bargaining and that buyers have room to negotiate and that there are fewer homes getting multiple offers pushing prices higher.

Closed sales are down 33.8%, pending sales are down 25.2%, and new listings are down 10.9% from last March. Prices however, are staying stable. The median price for a home was $499,945, this was up just slightly, 0.7% from $496,555 last March. List prices have been rising, 7.3% from $616,121 last year up to $661,227 this year. This shows that even though sellers think that they can get much more for their home, the market has spoken and prices are staying stable. This one spot where inflation is not holding is a relief for buyers.

If you are curious about what your home is worth or if it’s a good time for you to buy, give us a call at 803-831-8588. We would love to share our perspective on Lake Wylie and the Charlotte area. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

So, what is a bi-weekly mortgage? Just like it sounds, it’s one where you pay every other week instead of once per month. When you pay monthly, you have 12 payments per year. When you pay bi-weekly, you have 26 payments per year which ends up being the equivalent of paying one extra mortgage payment during the year, or 13 months of payments.

This type of payment can be great for anyone who gets paid every two weeks, but it can be tricky to budget for when you get paid monthly or twice per month. It takes discipline or just setting up automatic payments to make it work. Many people have this discipline and they set up this style of payment even though they have a traditional mortgage.

There can be great financial advantages to this style of payment because mortgages are based on compound interest. When you make extra payments, you pay directly against the principal on the loan so the interest that is calculated is less than if you don’t make extra payments. Over the life of a loan, you can save many thousands of dollars. This is different from a car loan where it is calculated on simple interest so you pay all of the interest regardless of if you pay extra principal or pay the loan off early.

When interest rates are high, like they are now, it can be hugely beneficial to pay extra on your mortgage. When your next payment comes due, you can look at your statement and see that your principal will be much lower and the interest portion of your next payment will be lower as well. Sometimes making extra payments can save you a lot of money so you don’t need to refinance to a lower rate.

If you are curious about what your home is worth or if it’s a good time for you to buy, give us a call at 803-831-8588. We would love to share our perspective on Lake Wylie and the Charlotte area. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.

New listings and pending sales are also down from last year. Inventory is climbing slightly so we now have a 1.2 month supply of homes. This is still down from a typical balanced market where 4-6 months of inventory are on hand. Sellers still have the upper hand in negotiations, but buyers are much less likely to pay over list price for a home. On average, sellers are only getting 95.3% of list price right now.

When you look at the Lake Wylie area, you see much of the same trend, except we are also seeing falling prices. Due to the small sample size, this drop in prices could be just a few waterfront homes difference, but it could be significant that prices, both median and average fell year over year. Median price is down 15.6% to $435,750 while the average price is down 3.3% to $519,818.

New listings, pending sales, and closed sales are all down from the same time last year. Inventory has risen to 117 homes, up from 62 last February. Sellers are getting an average of  95.7% of list price. Homes are also spending more time on the market before they sell. The average is now 47 days cumulatively from list until contract, up 95.8% from the 24 days average last February.

If you are curious about what your home is worth or if it’s a good time for you to buy, give us a call at 803-831-8588. We would love to share our perspective on Lake Wylie and the Charlotte area. You can view current listings and create custom searches on our website here.