As mortgage rates hit their highest level in 20 years, an increasing number of Cincinnati-area homebuyers are putting their house hunts on hold.
What's going to happen next?
Lawrence Yun, chief economist for The National Association of Realtors, recently told this reporter at a real estate conference in Atlanta that the rate for a traditional 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage could soon climb as high as 8.5%, pricing many would-be homebuyers out of the market.
Homebuyers are already feeling the pinch as traditional mortgage rates topped 7% in October for the first time since April 2002.
Sales and slowed and home prices have pulled back slightly in the wake of rising interest rates, but prices are still higher than they were a year ago and up more than 40% over the past five years.
The combination of rising rates and escalating home prices has already driven up the payment on a traditional mortgage for a median-priced home in the Cincinnati area by more than $650 over the past year, based on an Enquirer analysis of home prices and mortgage rates.
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How do aspiring home buyers – and sellers – navigate today’s treacherous housing market?
Should you buy now and lock in the lowest interest rate you can get, or wait for home prices to come down and hope interest rates don’t climb much higher?
If you’re selling, is it better to take the best offer you can get now or wait until next spring when there are typically more buyers in the market and the competition tends to drive prices up?
The Enquirer recruited a panel of real estate experts to answer these and other questions from our subscribers.
How to ask your questions and have them answered
Please submit your questions with your name and the neighborhood where you live in the comments section at the end of this story.
Log in to your account after Nov. 14 to read the responses to your questions from the following experts:
Donna Deaton
Donna Deaton is vice president of sales at Re/Max Victory + Affiliates in Liberty Township. She has more than 20 years of experience selling homes and training Realtors.
Sylvia Nelson
Sylvia Nelson has been a licensed Realtor with Comey & Shepherd Hyde Park since 2014, following her 17-year career at Procter & Gamble. She is a second-generation Realtor and has been consistently recognized as a top producer by the Ohio Association of Realtors.
Julie Back
Julie Back is executive vice president of sales at Sibcy Cline Realtors in Hyde Park. She began her career with Sibcy Cline in 1994 and was named the top sales agent in Ohio for six years in a row by the Ohio Association of Realtors.