This past month proved to be a difficult start for 2022 in the housing industry. Freezing weather across the country and higher mortgage rates have hurt sales, making it hard for buyers to get out and see properties. When it’s cold, people don’t want to go out and sellers are less inclined to sell, leaving much less inventory on the market. But in the good news department, even with the foreclosure process being reinstated, the mortgage industry is recording historically low levels of delinquency, which is surprising during Covid. This improvement over the last decade has been made possible through higher-quality loans, with eighty percent of applicants having FICO scores over 700 and showing better repayment of those loans, resulting in default rates that are the lowest they’ve ever been.

Interest rates are rising to help reduce inflation, although for those buying in the current climate, the motivation to move or sell their homes and get a higher rate is not necessarily that great. Many homeowners, however, are maintaining their homes with existing low mortgage rates, renting them out, and purchasing something else that is still reasonable as their primary residence. The advantages to owning property are so great that people who lost two-thirds of the value of their homes in the 2008 Great Recession recovered most of it within six to seven years, and their values have doubled since then. Potential homebuyers are constantly looking for deals in real estate, which has led to the advent of the many housing-search and home improvement shows that encompass entire networks. There are always advantageous investment opportunities to be found if buyers can make the monthly payments and have the ability to repay. Those properties will, at some point in time, increase in value. Jeff’s guests this week:

– Charles Giscombe of Malibu Funding discusses getting into the mortgage market now while the rates are still good.

– George Gonzales, also from Malibu Funding, shares the latest housing buzz about current prices and rates.