AUSTIN (KXAN) — Dogsitting at his new home in Austin’s growing Mueller neighborhood, Drew Glapa told KXAN it took nine months to find his casa.
“It was crazy,” he said. “We were looking at houses on, say, a Thursday, and by Sunday or even sooner, the house would be off the market.”
Glapa was able to lock in a low interest back in early 2021 as he and his girlfriend began their search, and he’s glad they did.
“I’ve been watching the news and seeing that interest rates are going to go up, so I hope the best for everyone looking now.”
Mortgage rates are ticking up ahead of Wednesday’s anticipated base rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The average 30-year fixed-rate climbed to 5.23% last week, according to Freddie Mac. That is up from 5.09% the week before, and way up from 2.96% one year ago.
Custom home builder Scott Turner, owner of Riverside Homes, told KXAN showings and offers for his available units have slowed over the last two months.
“The townhome development that we’re doing right now in South Austin, the first unit we put on the market there, we had 6 offers in 48 hours in March,” he said.
“In April, the next unit we put on the market, we had two offers in 48 hours,” he continued. “In May, the unit we put on the market, we’ve had a dozen showings but no offers in about 30 days.”
Turner said while he believes the rate increases have driven some would-be buyers out of the market for now, others may be more inclined to buy now — if they can afford it.
“It’s probably going to get some buyers off the fence because you don’t want to risk the rate going up again next month or the month after that, and then that same house costs you even more,” he said.
Ashley Jackson, incoming president for the Austin Board of Realtors, agreed the market is beginning to slow, but said she believes there no shortage of buyers.
Still, Jackson said Austin remains a seller’s market — even more so these days.
“A lot of sellers are sitting on deep equity in their homes,” she told KXAN. “So, this could be a good chance for them to move up or downsize in the market without competing against as many buyers as you would have found perhaps in the early spring.”
Turner said expect home prices to drop a bit soon, though, any savings will likely be offset by those rising mortgage rates.
“Austin just got more expensive thanks to higher interest rates,” he said.
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