Four Things We Learned in 2013 in the Real Estate and Mortgage Markets

Many expectations were exceeded in 2013 and we learned several lessons as the year went on:

1. Interest rates can changed very quickly. From October of 2012 through May of 2013, we saw record-low interest rates. The rates were low for such a long time that borrowers seemed to take the rates for granted. Then—in less than two months last summer—the rates rose a full percentage point before settling in just below 4.5%.

2. Home prices can come back. Not only can prices come back, they are coming back. According to Clear Capital, a company that analyzes real estate data, 225 of the 276 cities they tracked showed home prices rising in 2013. Nationally, prices increase by 10.9%, with the median price for existing jumping, increasing $30,000.

3. Homeownership isn’t dead yet. Many experts predicted that a new generation of renters was on the horizon, but that wave certainly didn’t hit in 2013. With rents rising faster than home prices in many areas, owning a home was still the goal for many renters. According to real estate website Trulia.com, 93% of 18- to 34-year-old renters plan on buying a home in the future.

4. Negative equity many not be a long-term problem. The rise in home prices also brought about a softening of negative home equity. Real estate website Zillow.com reported that the number of “underwater” homeowners—those owing more than the home’s value—fell 21% in the third quarter of 2013. Overall, 10.8 million homeowners were underwater at the end of the third quarter, down by 4.9 million from the peak in early 2012.

Although 2013 may not be looked back upon as a great boom year in real estate and mortgage, it was definitely a year in which we saw improvement in more than a few areas.

For more than 25 years, Omega Financial has been serving mortgage clients in Massachusetts. Our brokers have approximately 50 years in the mortgage business. You always will receive fast, courteous, and accurate information. Omega Financial, Inc. is a company duly licensed to operate in Massachusetts as a Mortgage Brokerage. We are located in the Town of Norwood, Massachusetts where we have been operating as Omega Financial Incorporated since 1988. Licensed by the Commissioner of Banks - License No. MB2671

#mortgagein2013 #realestatetrends2013 #mortgagebroker #mortgagebrokermassachusetts #mortgagebrokernorwood #negativeequity #homeownershiprenters #riseinhomeprices #mortgagerates #homepricescomingback #rentersandhomeownership #goalofhomeownership