December 2020 RSS Feed

Orange County Housing Report: Lock It In!

December 14, 2020

Mortgage rates may be at record lows, but they are poised to increase next year.

Interest Rates

The current 30-year mortgage rate is at 2.7%, a 14th record low since March

Today’s mortgage rates are at a record low and they offer the very best deal of the year. Soon, that deal will vanish, and rates will rise, which will impact monthly payments and affordability. Many think the Federal Reserve is in charge of setting mortgage rates, but that is not true. Instead, they set the short term fed funds rate, currently at zero. This rate affects automobile loans, credit card rates, and small business loans, also known as “short term debt.” Long term debt, or 30-year fixed mortgages,…

Orange County Housing Report:  Buyers’ Frustration

November 30, 2020

With an unrelenting lack of supply of homes FOR SALE, it will not be a buyer's market anytime soon. 

An Ongoing Seller’s Market

Housing has lined up in favor of sellers for years now and it is due to a low inventory of homes available to purchase coupled with strong demand boosted by historically low mortgage rates.

The active inventory has been at low levels ever since 2012 and a few times has dropped to unprecedented lows. From November 2012 through May 2013, and from December 2017 through February 2018, there were less than 4,000 homes available to purchase. It has only occurred twice since 2004, until this year. The Orange County active listing inventory dipped…