LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The housing market has experienced highs and lows throughout 2022.
But as the year draws to a close and the holidays approach, one Las Vegas real estate expert told 8 News Now, buyers and sellers can still find success after a year of fierce competition and high prices.
Kirby Scofield said he considers now a great time to buy a home in Las Vegas, despite soaring interest rates, “We have four casinos going up, two more sports teams supposedly going to be announced and thousands of jobs coming into Las Vegas, that means people are going to be moving – moving means buying and selling homes.”
Home prices are dropping along with competition to buy them thinning. There’s no denying many homeowners are holding off since mortgage rates have doubled since the beginning of the year. But to keep it in perspective, rates fell to record lows during the pandemic. With inflation surging 30 year mortgage rates last month surpassed the 7% mark but are still below their historical average of nearly 8%.
Scofield says instead of looking at buying a home based off the rate find what is affordable to you, “Utilize that it’s currently a buyers market to get seller concessions to buy down the points, and pay for your closing costs and get keys for home you deserve.” He adds first time home buyers, requiring only a three-and-a- half percent down payment through an FHA home loan are seeing a trend that’s definitely in their favor with choices, “More homes available in FHA limit, double than we had in inventory in January alone of every home total in Vegas.”
Even though it may take longer to sell your home, it’s still a good time to list it he says because buyers who are looking now are more serious about purchasing during the holiday season, “Your house hasn’t lost any value though you still have equity of the last couple of years of incredible growth, so it’s not like the crash before where everybody was negative.”
