Following the pandemic of 2020, the housing market saw a slight slow down in buyers' interest to purchase long term investments during uncertain times. However, that down turn of interest only lasted a short period of months in the long scheme of things. Late 2020 and early 2021 saw people back out on the market, both property buyers and sellers.
There are a few reasons the climate for real estate was looking up in 2021. Most notably would be the low interest rates that incentivized prospective home-owners to buy. In-fact, I, like many others, started to look into purchasing a place, when I read that 30-year fixed mortgage rates were hovering around 3.3% and 15-year mortgage rates were slightly above 2.6%. That's a great time to buy-in. With those numbers, I could purchase something in my area (Los Angeles, CA) for under 1 million and put down around $33,000. That is do-able. When I started to run the figures, I realized, the rent I pay per month more-or-less lands around the amount I would pay for mortgage (per month) in Los Angeles. Sites like Mortgage Calculator UK helped me run some of the figures to see what I could afford and look for in my comfortable price range.
So how is the housing market looking in 2022? Well, the federal government just raised interest rates by 0.25% as of March 16, 2022. According to Yahoo Finance, one key trend of the real estate market is to notice that there seems to be more buyers looking then there are homes available, noting that the inventory of unsold homes at the end of December 2021 dropped to an all-time low of 860,000. Don't panic though, buy organically when you are ready. That truly is the answer of 'when to buy'.
In my not so figurative look into the Southern California housing market (I was looking in November 2021), I was quite pleased to see the variety of properties available. Southern California is an interesting place to reference for this article, as it is known for the high prices and limited availability. I felt comfortable beginning the search process, but once I began to look at repairs, closing fees, and renovations, I realized I wanted to wait until I could fully invest my time, money, and mind into whichever place I bought.
This brings me to my conclusion, the right time to buy a home, condo, land, or property is when you are ready. Yes, rent is high is LA, but I would rather wait until I have the kind of pocket cash that will allow me to buy new rugs, bedding, furniture, art, and more... Also, many places in my price range looked like they needed to have their bathrooms gutted to meet my standards and wants. I'd love to have a full bath and shower set, a walk in closet, full length mirror, with an air-vent and plenty of counter-space. Hypothetically, you can't put a price on living the luxury life, and I realized my precious living space is priceless wherever I go.
View what your area has to offer.