Why the Time to Buy or Sell a Sacramento Home is Now

Clients have been asking lately if the end of summer of 2014 is a good time to buy or sell a home in Sacramento, because they are wondering whether prices will continue to rise. If we have collectively learned nothing from the market crash years of 2006 to 2011, it’s that prices will not always continue to go up. I’ve been advising clients all year to sell now or buy now and to not wait until 2015, and that’s not just because I’m a Sacramento real estate agent who stands to make a buck or two.

It’s because I watch and analyze the market. I sell a lot more homes than your average Sacramento agent, and I see first-hand a lot more activity than your average agent. It doesn’t matter all that much to me whether home prices go up or home prices go down, like that Eddie Murphy movie, I will still be in business. People are yakking that Sacramento home prices have risen only 8% and lamenting that figure instead of rejoicing. I am very happy with the market prices lately because they’ve made huge gains over the past 2 years. Enough so that many homeowners are pulled out from being underwater — no more short sales, thank goodness — and scores of Sacramento homeowners are able to sell and move up.

All of a sudden, like an overnight magical fairy-wand tap on our chimneys, many sellers have an additional $100,000 of equity that they didn’t have a few years ago. Even sellers who bought a home in 2010 and 2011 are able to sell now. All of those foreclosure buyers and short sale buyers are morphing into equity sellers in this new Sacramento real estate market. Interest rates are incredibly low, and I can tell you this, they won’t stay there forever. You can get a loan around 4% right now, and that gives you heart-pounding savings. Don’t be crying a few years from now when interest rates are up to 5% or 7% or worse.

Once rates begin to edge up — and interest rates absolutely will rise — watch out, because Sacramento home prices will feel the affect. The impact of interest rates on the rise is huge, for example, each 1/2 percent interest rate increase can lose a buyer roughly $25,000 of purchasing power. What do you think that kind of rate increase will do to home prices in Sacramento? It will suppress prices a bit, sure, but you’ll lose more disposable income through the interest rate increase. Overall, your payment will be higher than it will be today.

You’ve got a window of opportunity right now to sell a home in Sacramento and capture the momentum of our upcoming fall market in Sacramento — which is the second hottest real estate market in Sacramento. It’s also an excellent time, due to low interest rates, to buy a home. Are you in or you are you out? Call me, Elizabeth Weintraub, at 916.233.6759.