‘Marry the House, Date the Rate’

It’s no secret that the past couple of years have been red hot for the housing market. But when the Fed began raising interest rates, many prospective homebuyers began worrying whether their window to purchase a home was closing. “Is it still a good time to buy a house?” The folks at Ebby Halliday say, “Yes!”

The Dallas-Ft. Worth housing market has been through a lot. As the Covid era reshaped the work-from-home model and pumped tons of cash into the economy, many homeowners and first-time home buyers flooded the market. This increased demand for an already-slim supply of homes for sale had a huge effect on inventory nationwide. The cost of housing ballooned and so did inflation, so the Federal Reserve kicked off a campaign to raise interest rates in hopes of curbing demand. But will higher mortgage rates curb demand for real estate in Texas?

An Interesting Dillema

For many home buyers, interest rates are a top consideration. The typical mortgage term can last up to 30 years or more so it’s tough to think you may be stuck with anything less than the lowest rate possible.

Alex Parker, Regional Manager for Texas at Prosperity Home Mortgage has worked with Ebby Halliday Companies for years. For a decade now, Ebby Halliday Companies has offered mortgage, title, and insurance services under one umbrella. Therefore, Parker knows a bit about the interest rate hesitations.

“As far as interest rates,” Parker says. “We’ve seen the highest increase in the shortest period of time in almost a decade. We went from 5 percent to over 6 percent in over a week.”

To many, this may sound staggering but we have to remember this isn’t permanent.

“There’s no telling where we’ll be in a month,” says Parker. “We have seen such significant volatility, that things could easily stabilize in the immediate future, we just don’t know.”

What many buyers don’t know is that interest rates are always in flux, so there’s no real way to predict their path from one month to the next.

Trying to catch the perfect rate should never deter you from owning your dream home, experts at Ebby Halliday Companies say. In fact, agents will often say, “Marry the house, date the rate.” This basically means, don’t let interest rate deter you because you can always refinance.

“There’s always a possibility that we could see another dip and there could be a refi opportunity in that, Parker says. ”If you find that perfect house, don’t wait to get it. Even if the rate isn’t what you’d hoped, there are always opportunities to modify or refinance. It’s a lot easier than people expect.”

Don’t Wait

In this market, the perfect home is harder to come by. If you find it, there’s no reason to let a short-term problem like interest rates deter you from your dream home. Refinancing in the future is an excellent option for buying real estate without the remorse. For help with your mortgage questions, reach out to Prosperity Mortgage, a division of Ebby Halliday Companies.