Overcoming Affordability Challenges: The Resilience of the Housing Market on Bainbridge Island
If you're considering buying or selling a home on Bainbridge Island, you might be aware of the current challenges in the real estate market. With higher mortgage rates and rising home prices, affordability has become a concern. The graph below, provided by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), illustrates the current affordability situation compared to recent years.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) explains how to read the values on the graph:
“To interpret the indices, a value of 100 means that a family with the median income has exactly enough income to qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home.”
The black dotted line represents that 100 value on the index. Essentially, the higher the bar, the more affordable homes are. As you can see, the orange bar for today shows higher mortgage rates and home prices have created a clear challenge. But, while affordability is definitely tighter right now, that doesn’t mean the housing market is at a standstill.
According to NAR, based on the pace of sales right now, just under 4 million homes will sell this year. With some simple math, let’s break down what that really means for you:
3.96 million homes divided by 365 days in a year = 10,849 houses sell each day
10,849 divided by 24 hours in a day = 452 houses sell per hour
452 divided by 60 minutes in an hour = about 8 houses sell each minute
So, on average, over 10,000 homes sell each day in this country. Whether you're a buyer or a seller, this goes to show there are still ways to make your move possible, even at a time when affordability is tight.
An Agent Can Help You Make Your Move a Reality
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) explains how to read the values on the graph:
“To interpret the indices, a value of 100 means that a family with the median income has exactly enough income to qualify for a mortgage on a median-priced home.”
The black dotted line represents that 100 value on the index. Essentially, the higher the bar, the more affordable homes are. As you can see, the orange bar for today shows higher mortgage rates and home prices have created a clear challenge. But, while affordability is definitely tighter right now, that doesn’t mean the housing market is at a standstill.
According to NAR, based on the pace of sales right now, just under 4 million homes will sell this year. With some simple math, let’s break down what that really means for you:
3.96 million homes divided by 365 days in a year = 10,849 houses sell each day
10,849 divided by 24 hours in a day = 452 houses sell per hour
452 divided by 60 minutes in an hour = about 8 houses sell each minute
So, on average, over 10,000 homes sell each day in this country. Whether you're a buyer or a seller, this goes to show there are still ways to make your move possible, even at a time when affordability is tight.
Bottom Line
You might think there aren’t many people buying or selling homes on Bainbridge Island right now since affordability is tighter than it’s been in quite some time, but that’s not the case. It’s true that buying a home has become more expensive over the past couple of years, but people are still moving.
If you’re hoping to buy or sell a home on Bainbridge Island today, know that other people are still making their goals a reality – and that’s happening in large part because of the help and advice of skilled local real estate agents. Want to talk to a trusted professional about your own move on Bainbridge Island? Let’s connect.
