In episode 26 of The Real Talk, Raquel Ramirez reflects on the real estate market in 2023 and looks ahead to what we can expect in 2024. She discusses the challenges faced by buyers and sellers in a stagnant market and the impact of high rental prices on tenants. However, there is good news for buyers as interest rates have dropped and are expected to continue to lower throughout the year. Raquel encourages buyers to take advantage of the current situation and not wait for the market to become more competitive.
Tune in to be filled with valuable information and inspiring wishes for the new year.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:00:56] Reflection on 2023 in Real Estate.
[00:03:29] Prospects for 2024.
[00:04:40] Considerations for Buyers
In this episode, Raquel Ramirez discusses the stagnant state of the real estate market in 2023, attributing it primarily to higher interest rates. The rising costs, values, and rates made it increasingly challenging for buyers to enter the market, forcing sellers to adjust their expectations regarding the saleability of their homes.
In addition, Raquel encourages prospective buyers to act now and seize the opportunities presented by the current real estate market, rather than waiting and potentially facing increased competition and higher prices.
QUOTES
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Raquel Ramirez
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/featured_properties_intl/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/featuredre
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-ramirez/
WEBSITES:
The Real Talk: https://www.therealtalkpodcast.net/
Featured Properties International: https://msha.ke/featuredre
.
Welcome to The Real Talk. I'm Raquel Ramirez, your host and real estate professional here to bring you insightful conversations, expert advice, and powerful stories about what really goes on in life, love, divorce, and real estate. Are you ready? Let's get real. Hello, and thank you for tuning in. I realized that there are many hours in the day and many days in the year from which to choose to listen, but I am coming to you at the beginning of the year. It is 2024 and we have a lot to look forward to. So whether it's morning, afternoon, or evening, Tuesday, Friday, or Sunday, whether it's January, February, or March, and whether you're commuting to work, jogging, or relaxing, happy new year to you. You may or may not know that 2023 was actually a stagnant year for real estate. You've likely read your fair share of news articles that may have sensationalized some of the real issues we're facing. But yes, it's absolutely true that higher interest rates played a very big role in all of that. Between rising costs, values and rates, it just, it became increasingly difficult for buyers to jump into the real estate market. And even for the buyers who were able to afford to buy a new house, they were generally turned off and unwilling to settle for something that just didn't tick off most, if not all of their boxes. And as a result, Sellers were forced to become more and more realistic about the potential salability of their homes. And we saw many listings reduce their asking prices time and time again, and many more homes sold at or below 100% of their asking prices. Now, I realize that sounds like a ridiculous update because you're probably thinking that should be the norm. But if you recall what the market was like a few years ago, you'll understand that this is indeed a stark contrast in consumer behavior. While no one in my position wants to hear that 2023 was a slow moving year, it was to be expected. I mean, after all, we had a feeling this was going to happen. Many of us anticipated a slowdown, albeit we never really know how good or bad something will turn out to be, but it happened and perhaps it was necessary. Sellers have been more realistic. Buyers are exercising their rights to be more cautious. And baby boomers are cashing out of their lifelong homes and using all of their equity to downsize. But on another note, it may have been a slow year for purchase transactions, but it was actually a rather mobile year for landlords and tenants who were faced with increasing rents. Believe it or not, leases come due each and every year, so that was something to contend with. Unfortunately, many tenants still feel that the rental market is putting an unnecessary squeeze on them, and they're right, rents are high. But it's causing many of them to consider buying when the interest rates come down or moving out of South Florida altogether. Now, it's not all doom and gloom. There is good news for 2024. New years always ring with new hope, new goals. And I don't know if it's just me, but a general sense of change for the better. In real estate professionals, we feel this will trickle into the real estate market too. Why? Well, the leading reason, if I may say, is driven by the recent drop in interest rates. In case you were too busy enjoying the holidays and you absolutely should have been, you'll be happy to know that interest rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped below 7% year-end. So if you do the math, that represents hundreds of dollars of savings for anyone who was being quoted a much higher rate months back. Furthermore, the Federal Reserve has already indicated that they plan to cut rates three times this year, which should contribute to lowering the mortgage rate to benefit consumers. And the National Association of Realtors guesstimates that the mortgage rates will reach probably into the low sixes. Now, obviously this is great news for buyers. And if I may say, according to the National Association of Realtors, and I'll just read this straight from the Florida Realtors article, the lock-in effect of higher mortgage, I'm sorry, the lock-in effect of higher mortgage rates in 2023 has slowed the real estate market, but there is optimism for stronger sales activity in 2024. This is indeed good news. Now, some are questioning whether or not this will have an immediate impact on sales activity. Are we going to see traditional sales activity in the spring? Or are buyers going to wait to see what happens? My guess is that most buyers are going to wait. And I'd say that's not exactly the best idea. Although we've seen a slight increase in inventory levels, they would not support an exodus of buyers jumping into the market at the same time. All that would do is create more competition for buyers, which translates into potential bidding wars. And of course, it drives prices up. Personally, I've already witnessed a slight increase in inventory just in my own pipeline, which presents opportunities for buyers now. It's not just me, but other sources are also encouraging prospective buyers to take advantage of the current situation now. The current situation. So if you've been thinking about buying a new home or stepping back into the market, do it. Do it now. Talk to your lender and get a grasp on the rates and your finances. Call a professional realtor like me and start the process now. Don't wait because that's likely what you did last time. And here we are. The water is tepid. Don't wait for it to get too hot or you're going to regret it. Remember, you can always buy now and refinance later. Finally, I want to quickly address the condo market. If you tuned into an earlier episode of mine, you heard me rant about the issues the condo market is facing, with nearly every condo association passing special assessments. And it's not 100% of the condos, but it is the vast majority of them. It has presented a big challenge for finance buyers. A bit of good news is that there is a rumor that Fannie Mae will release a list of blacklisted condos in the third quarter of this year, 2024. If anything, that should help weed out condos that may and may not be eligible for financing so that buyers can know ahead of time what is worth pursuing. Now, before I end this segment, I want to remind you that owning a home doesn't just produce financial benefits. There are non-financial benefits that come with that too. In fact, I'll never forget something that my fiance told me years ago when we were debating our own purchase. One of the most important things for him was giving his children a home. And at first, I didn't understand what he meant by that because I had bent over backwards to create a cozy and loving environment for all of us to reside in, but we were still in a rental, which meant that we really couldn't do too much. We were never able to customize, truly customize our surroundings to fit our needs and our Of course, the most obvious issue was that we ran the risk of having to uproot our lives whenever the landlord would either decide to increase our rent substantially or to move in or to sell any one of those things at renewal, let's say. And it did. It actually happened to us twice. From an emotional perspective, I'd say the non-financial benefits of owning a property are equal to the financial ones, from achieving an important goal to staking a claim and growing roots, let's say. It's just, it's something that must be experienced to be understood, right? So if owning your first place or a new place is in your sights for the year, let me be the first to tell you to go for it. It's 2024. And on that note, allow me to finish by bestowing some wishes. May the spirit of this season of say, new beginnings, inspire you to dream big. May the new year ring with endless possibilities for you and yours for a truly amazing year ahead. Be happy, be healthy, be bold. Be prosperous and now go out and achieve those goals. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of The Real Talk. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't already done so, be sure to subscribe to the show wherever you consume podcasts. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. And if you found value in today's show, we'd appreciate it if you would help others discover this podcast. Until next time.