If you’re a homebuyer without a home to buy, the ongoing housing shortage is making housing to buy less affordable by the day. Certain factors should change with time, which should provide you with a better chance to buy a home in mid-to-late 2022.
One factor that helped fuel the current housing market boom was record low interest rates. According to the latest weekly Mortgage Bankers Association survey, the average contract interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) under $647,200 was 5.20% with 0.63 points. That’s a quick rise from the record low recorded by Freddie Mac in December 2020 of 2.68% for the same FRM loan. As a borrower you could ask your lender about a hybrid mortgage that gives you a lower adjustable rate for a fixed period of five years before the rate adjusts to a fixed rate.
Since the Great Recession, there’s been a serious shortage of new homes being built. The National Association of REALTORS says the U.S. needs to add 550,000 more homes to its 1.5 million annual average for the next ten years to make up the shortfall that’s now calculated to be about 6.8 million homes, after accounting for demolitions. Builders need more labor, more land and an end to supply chain shortages to meet this goal.
What can you do? Buy an older home that needs work. You’ll have the option of improving it or tearing it down and rebuilding when the market improves.