This Week In Real Estate - August 12th Edition

In response to feedback received by you the reader I have changed the time frames for this week in real estate to better reflect the past week. I am also putting together a few pieces on the historic home located at 2200 Bredell known as Woodside so be sure to keep reading!

Home affordability - What is it and how does it affect me?

So you may have heard fellow patch readers but the Mortgage interest rates are on the rise. We are seeing a rate of change that is one of the fastest upward trajectories in modern history. This affects us all Maplewood and Brentwood through a little know thing called buying power.

“How much home can I afford?” Buying power in real estate is simply defined as how much home you can afford on a monthly basis. We as real estate agents deal with this question inevitably with all buyers. Most are surprised to find out that right now you can afford more home now than ever. But how is this possible? It actually has very little to do with with the homes sticker price, but the interest rate. Simply put the lower the interest rate, the less you pay per month as a payment. For instance, if you can afford $1200.00 per month, you can afford a larger home if paying less interest.

Let’s take a look at a simple table courtesy of Bill Morris, a Realtor in Austin, Texas via http://billmorrisrealtor.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/mortgage-rates-payments-and-buying-power/

Listen up sellers this affects you too! So with the rise in interest rates buyers are losing some of their buying power. Is your home listed now? If so your buyer pool is changing. Depending on where your price point may be you probably have lost quite a few buyers. Don’t panic though. If your home is priced well and it hasn’t yet sold you have a group of new interested buyers that will drive new interest to your home.

In summary if you want to buy, and missed out on the 3.25% interest rate grab a realtor and get one now. It’s only a matter of time before interest rates shoots up another point and your home affordability decreases again.

- 0 homes failed to sell and were taken off the market

The price points ranged from $100,000 to $150,000

For Richmond Heights this past week:
- 0 homes closed
- 1 went under contract
- 1 new listing

- 1 homes failed to sell and was taken off the market

The price points ranged from $135,000 to $275,000

For Brentwood this past week:
- 2 homes closed
- 1 went under contract
- 4 new listings

- 5 homes failed to sell and were taken off the market

The price points ranged from $85,000 to $625,000

Questions? Call or Email me!
Joshua Horn

Coldwell Banker Premier Group
314-448-3247
STLHomeSales@Live.com