Article provided by Sue Meitner of the Centennial Lending Group.

If you’re following the news, all the headlines about conditions in the current housing market may leave you with more questions than answers.  My advice: don’t make decisions based on fear as you may miss out on big opportunities.

For example, read on to see what the media said vs. what actually happened for the buyer of a 300k home…

• Oct 2015 – “Housing today- a bubble larger than 2006”
  We saw 5.1% appreciation – home is now worth 315k
• Aug 2016 – “We’re in a housing bubble”
  We saw 5.4% appreciation – home is now worth 332k
• Nov 2017 – “Homeownership doesn’t build wealth, a study finds”
  We saw 6.1% appreciation- home is now worth 353k
• Sept 2018 – “It’s better to rent than buy in today’s housing market”
  We saw 4.1% appreciation – home is now worth 367k
• July 2019 – “The housing market is about to shift in a bad way for buyers”
  We saw 4.0% appreciation- home is now worth 382k
• Dec 2019 – “Next year will be hard on the housing market, especially in big cities”
  We saw 16% appreciation in 2020- home is now worth 443k
• July 2021 – “Housing boom is over as new home sales fall to pandemic lows”
  We saw 18% appreciation – home is now worth 523k

Had fear consumed this buyer back in 2015, the homeowner would’ve lost out on 223k in value gain, not even accounting for the seven years of payments made on that mortgage creating more equity.

Make your financial decisions based on logic, reason, and expert opinions. Not on rate or being concerned about the market.

Consider this: the rate on rent is 100%.  A rent payment only builds wealth for the landlord.

Marry the house, date the rate!  Commit to the house you love, you can refinance when rates drop if that’s what works best for you.  Real estate continues to be rated as the BEST long term investment strategy.