I remember a time when I was calling many of my would-be home-buyer clients and they were sharing similar concerns: They were worried about a real estate market crash.
As we’ve seen a strong upward trend in the housing market this Spring, you may be relieved to know that we are only 1-5% off the high prices we experienced at this time last year. So hopefully you’ve been able to put aside most of your fears.
However, with ongoing talk in the news about recession, interest rates, Ukraine, and even presidential elections (already!), you may still have some lingering concerns about whether it’s a good time to buy.
However, one thing to note is that we have MUCH DIFFERENT lending standards now than we did last time around. That’s important because it was poor lending standards that were largely responsible for the crash in 2008.
According to Realtor.com: “In the early 2000s, it wasn’t exactly hard to snag a home mortgage. . . . plenty of mortgages were doled out to people who lied about their incomes and employment, and couldn’t actually afford homeownership.”
It’s getting harder to get a loan all the time, which makes it clear we’re far away from the extreme lending practices that contributed to the crash.
This goes to show, these are two very different housing markets, and this market isn’t like the last time.
