Mortgage Rates on the Rise: Should You Buy a Home Now

According to recent reports, mortgage rates are on the rise. This has many potential home buyers wondering if they should buy a home now or wait until rates level off. The answer, as with most things in life, is it depends. 

In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the factors you should consider before making a decision about whether to buy a home now or wait.

Interest Rates Are Important—But They’re Not Everything

It’s no secret that interest rates play a big role in how much you’ll ultimately pay for your home. 

The higher the interest rate, the more you’ll pay in interest over the life of your loan. That being said, interest rates are just one factor you should take into account when trying to decide whether to buy a home now or wait

For example, let’s say you’re trying to decide between two homes—home A and home B. 

Home A is on the market now at a price of $200,000 with an interest rate of 4%. Home B isn’t on the market yet, but you expect it to come on the market soon at a price of $210,000 with an interest rate of 3.75%. 

At first glance, it would seem like a no-brainer to go with home A—after all, you’d be paying less in interest. However, there are other factors to consider. 

First, let’s say that home A appreciates in value by 5% over the next year while home B appreciates by 7%. 

That would make the total cost of ownership for home A $215,000 (5% appreciation + closing costs + 4% interest) while the total cost of ownership for home B would be $225,850 (7% appreciation + closing costs + 3.75% interest). 

In this scenario, even though you’d be paying less interest on home B, it would actually end up costing you more in the long run due to appreciation and closing costs. 

As another example, let’s say that rates increase by .5% next year while home prices stay flat. 

In that case, buying home A now would cost you $214 monthly ($200K x 4%/12 = $8333/3 = $214), while waiting to buy home B would cost you $221 monthly ($210K x 4.5%/12 = $8750/4 = $221). 

In this scenario waiting to buy actually makes sense because even though mortgage rates have increased overall, you’d still be getting a lower rate than if you bought today—plus your monthly payments would be lower as well. 

The takeaway from all this is that there’s no single right or wrong answer when it comes to deciding whether to buy a home now or wait—it all depends on your unique situation and what’s happening in the housing market at any given time. 

By taking into account things like interest rates, expected changes in house prices and your own personal financial situation, you can make an informed decision about what’s best for you. 

Conclusion

If you’re thinking about buying a home but aren’t sure whether now or later would be better timing-wise, there are several factors you should take into consideration before making your decision. 

Things like expected changes in house prices and mortgage rates as well as your personal financial situation can all play a role in whether it makes sense for you to buy now or wait until later. 

By taking all these things into account before making your decision, you can be sure that you’re doing what’s best for YOU.