Yes! Buying a home in Seattle is hard. If you think it’s not the right time to buy because #reasons, I hear you… we have been having chitter-chatter for the last year or so about interest rates, affordability and recession concerns. You’re not wrong.
So, when’s it going to be the best time to buy a house for you? If I had to estimate, I would say “About 5 years ago!” (haha)
If you talk to most people who have owned a house for 5, 10, 15 years or more, chances are they feel pretty good about their decision. After, over time… homes tend to go up in value, and mortgages get paid down. You build equity.
If you were still renting, chances are your rent would be going up, but you wouldn’t have much to show for your years in an apartment but a stack of receipts.
Others agree: In a recent Fannie Mae survey, 70% of respondents say they believe buying a home is a safe investment.
In the past 5 years, home values on the West Coast states have gone up 48%. In the past 30 years, they’ve gone up 334%.
And yes, we lost some value over the last half of 2022, after the “unicorn years” ended thanks to a change in interest rates, we are already seeing big price gains this spring. Most Seattle-area markets are only down about 1-5% off of last year’s highs.
If interest rates go down again, we should see housing prices start to climb even more sharply.
This is why they say, “Don’t wait to buy real estate. Buy real estate and wait.”
Click here to read more..
