Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market

Mortgage interest rates dropped yet again this week, giving buyers further opportunities to refinance their current home or buy a home and lock in low mortgage payments for the next 15 or 30 years. It’s hard to fathom that Kansas City home buyers can secure a long-term home loan at just 4.25% interest. This assumes the borrower has decent credit and a 5% down payment.  Yet it’s become apparent that low mortgage interest rates alone aren’t going to carry us into a housing recovery.

Today’s low interest rates simply aren’t stimulating buyers the way they have in the past. That’s understandable though with more than 10,000,000 U.S. homeowners upside down on their homes and many more worried about job security and whether home prices will fall further. The market has certainly changed from five years ago when Kansas City home sellers were selling a home they bought two years earlier and turning a profit — AFTER factoring in real estate commissions, title fees, moving costs, etc.

In the past, when mortgage interest rates dropped, it was the signal for home sales to pick up. This time around however, it’s just not bringing as many home buyers out of the woodwork. Although low rates haven’t picked the real estate market up, I wonder if they’ve prevented the market from a complete collapse. It’s impossible to say for sure and I’m just thankful that the home buyers who are searching for a good deal don’t have to factor higher interest rates into the buying equation.

Posted by Jason A. Brown