BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – The housing market continues to be in the spotlight as many people worry they won’t be able to afford to become homeowners.
Several legislators are addressing the issue of available housing and affordability. The housing market in the Southeast region has seen significant activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shutdown ordinances and low interest rates caused a market frenzy.
Amanda West, a Bowling Green real estate agent, describes the time as absolute madness.
“It probably takes four hours to get a client on site, write an offer and get something done,” West said. “Additionally, it took a very long time to close the deal. People were trying to over-appraise and skip inspections, all of which are things you don’t like as an agent.”
The market is currently slowing down. This is because all the demand at the time pushed home prices up. The federal government also enacted sharp increases in interest rates and restructuring of some industries.
The National Association of Realtors has introduced new rules for real estate agents to follow after settling a lawsuit with some homeowners. Changes include:
Removes and prohibits the requirement for offers of compensation on the MLS between listing brokers or sellers and buyer brokers or other buyer representatives. Removes and prohibits MLS participants, subscribers, and sellers from making offers of compensation in the MLS to buyer brokers or other buyers. Request that the MLS delete all broker compensation fields and compensation information within the MLS.
Essentially, this means agents will no longer be allowed to advertise co-op rewards on the multi-listing service, and all rewards will be negotiated within the offer.
This announcement caused confusion among buyers and sellers.
“Agent commissions are always negotiable, so we’re just communicating more,” West said.
Recently, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by half a percentage point. Mortgage rates aren’t usually directly related, but they tend to move together, said Bowling Green real estate agent Jemony Brown. Overall, the impact is more significant than just borrowing money.
“If Mr. Builder is building a house, he pays a higher rate of X percent when interest rates go down. The cost of building that home also goes down,” he explained. “Most people say, ‘Well, how does that affect me as a consumer?’ Well, there’s not that much pressure on the builder, so now that I have room to move, I don’t have much money in my house. There’s no need to put a price on it. The half-point drop was good.”
Mr. West has advice for those looking to sell or buy.
“It’s always important to be diligent when choosing a real estate agent to represent you,” West says. “You can choose an agent who has been in the industry for a while, or you can choose a new agent who has access to senior agents.”
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