Sound Off: What do low interest rates for the foreseeable future mean for Bay Area real estate?
All real estate is hyper-local and driven primarily by local economic employment conditions, not the federal interest rates per se.
Many buyers in our market tend to purchase based on their net worth, which is more affected by mergers and acquisitions, IPOs and stock market activity, rather than national interest rates.
With a robust Bay Area job market and interest rates remaining low, buyers will likely continue to take advantage of this unique local phenomenon and purchase homes with the same level of activity as in recent years.
[...] we recommend that Bay Area residents considering the sale of their home in the next few years seize this unique opportunity and capitalize on the local market conditions, as they may change with the increase of federal interest rates.
The Fed deciding not to raise rates gives home buyers additional time to lock in historically low mortgage rates.
Rates have remained low for such a long time that home buyers who have been on the sidelines may want to get in to the housing market before the end of the year or first quarter of 2016.
When rates go up, this will affect the buying power for many buyers as it will increase the debt-to-income ratio, increase monthly mortgage payments and lessen the ability to get approved and their buying power.
Conversely, when I first began my career in real estate, interest rates were 18 percent — a good reminder that it is important for those considering buying to take advantage of these current rates.