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Home buyers are still competing for properties while facing average mortgage rates of 7%.
BETTENDORF, Iowa — With Wednesday’s announcement that the Fed will not be cutting interest rates, home buyers are learning to live with mortgage rates at about 7%.
While it’s higher than COVID-19-era rates than 2-3%, Sharon Smith, CEO of Quad City Area Realtors Association, said the current rate is closer to the average.
“Anybody that was around here during the mid-80s and saw 22% interest rates, they would think that today’s interest rate is pretty good,” Smith said.
Mel Foster Co. Realtor Leanna Trees said people are taking advantage of that relatively good rate. One of the properties she’s selling is a condo in Eldridge. Back in 2018, property records show the unit sold for $107,000, but she said the list price was $168,000.
According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, home prices in the Quad Cities have increased about 34% since 2020, but people are still buying.
Smith saw the market explode after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“18 months to two years ago, we had the feeding frenzy that came out of the pandemic, where people were, you know, multiple multiple — 30 offers on properties,” Smith said.
That frenzy has calmed down, but Trees said there’s still plenty of demand, especially for single-family homes.
“I would say if it’s priced right, and it’s move-in ready, it’s gonna be not on the market for more than a couple weeks,” Trees said.
And with interest rates staying steady, Trees said the Quad Cities market is becoming more balanced. Smith said the average time a home is on the market in the Quad Cities is 27 days; that’s compared to the current national average of 44 days.
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This article was originally published by a www.wqad.com . Read the Original article here. .