January home sales slipped across the nation as interest rates inched higher and the Federal Reserve signaled that more hikes might be on the way. So the Business Journal asks:
Does the prospect of rising interest rates discourage you from buying a home?
Victoria Biagiotti: Manager of Member Services; World Trade Center Association
It’s a concern. I’m getting married this year, so I’m looking at the market in a superficial fashion. We’re more trying to figure where we want to live at this stage. We haven’t gotten to the financing part yet. But it’s possible that we could put off buying a home for a couple of years. My fianc & #233; already owns a home, so we could wait it out if we had to.
Wendy Tyler Cobleigh: Realtor; Jim Dickson Realtors
No, because there are so many home loans out there. You can switch from one to the other quite easily. If you’re a first-timer it’s pretty easy. You can even get 100 percent financing. We’re in a nice sane marketplace right now, but it would be great if there were more homes available. I hope we’re not headed the same way the Bay Area is, where it’s very hard to get anything at all.
Anjana Larsen: Director of Product Development; TelePacific Communications
I’m wary of the interest rates rising, so I’m looking at townhouses as well as houses. I plan to buy in December. What’s hard is that I want to get into the market when the prices are still moving up, but I want to understand what’s happening before I get in. So I am definitely looking at interest rates. I’m tending toward a 15-year fixed rate because I like to have something to plan on. I want to put a significant amount down. It’s a balancing act. You have to gauge where the market will be in two or three years.
Robert Falcone: Plant Manager; Studio RTA
We just sold our old house a week ago, so we’ve already put a deposit on a new house. The rates aren’t that bad right now compared with what we got three years ago. They just dropped an eighth of a percent. We were looking for a house for the last couple of months. I was going to lock in our loan on Monday, but I just talked to my wife and we’re going to gamble and wait a week and see if they go down further.
Britt Ehringer: Creative Director ; Soundbreak.com
No, I need a home for my tax write-offs I have some other businesses on the side. Obviously we missed the low-interest rate boat, but maybe I can get a floating rate and then quickly refinance when things get better. You can keep sticking your toe in the water but you have to jump in sometimes. Then there’s always a condo. But you have to deal with your neighbors and the crazy boards that run them. I think you have to have a house. It’s the entry into adulthood.
Max van Balgooy: Assistant Director; Homestead Museum
We were lucky. We bought our house five years ago, when the rates were almost at rock bottom. But let’s say we were renters not planning on leaving the area I would definitely think twice about it, but I would most likely still buy. Rates have been low for a while. I don’t think they’re going to raise up dramatically. Probably no more than half a point or so.
