Despite rising interest rates, Yakima’s home market is strong

Home sales continue at a healthy pace in Yakima as fixed rate mortgage rates rise. According to Cory Bemis, owner of Yakima’s John L. Scott Real Estate, the median selling price of homes is up 9% from the same time last year, selling for an average of $322,500. 167 homes were sold in April, an increase of 11.3% from the 150 homes sold in April 2021.

More homes have sold so far this year compared to the same time last year

Another raise? 630 homes have been sold so far this year, an increase of 16.5% over last year when 541 homes were sold.
30-year fixed rate mortgages are averaging an interest rate of 5.64% right now according to MortgageNewsDaily.com, which is 0.39% higher than last month and 2.56% higher than last month. one year ago. Bemis says rising interest rates will undoubtedly impact the market and some buyers. Bemis says that “the new rates will impact buyers who have recently shopped for homes and been pre-approved for a home loan at a lower interest rate because now their affordability will be affected.”

Bemis can’t say if rates will cause sales to slow

He says it’s hard to predict if and when the local market will see a slowdown in sales. “We certainly expect the interest rate hikes to have enough impact to move the market from an extreme seller’s market to a balanced market in the very near future. A seller’s market simply means that there are more buyers than sellers, and a buyer’s market is the opposite We know active listings will increase as we begin to return to a balanced market, but we don’t yet know if the number of total sales will change.
But Bemis says many people looking to buy a home still want to buy, regardless of rates, because he says people realize that “owning a home always turns out to be a better long-term financial investment for individuals in relation to the payment of rent.”

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