“John, when is the best time to buy? Is now a good time or should I wait?”
That’s the million dollar question. And I have some things you should consider that’ll help you answer your question with clarity.
But to set the table upfront – we’re in a strong buyers market here in South Florida.
First, Delray Beach real estate is in the grips of a buyers market. Months of supply is 7.85 and was 8.45 just three months ago. That means there’s more supply than demand can consume (over 6 months of supply is defined as a buyer’s market).
Next, the overriding theme for Florida real estate supply is surplus. In fact since bottoming in February 2022 at 35,586 units in today, it’s up 390% to 174,584 units today. Read that sentence again. Florida now has more inventory on the market than ever been recorded. If that doesn’t scream buyers market, well…
Have you seen interest rates this week? Look at the chart below. As you can see, the 30-yr fixed mortgage rate started the year at 7.07%. Today it’s near 6.57%. At 7.07% on a $320k loan, that’s a monthly payment of $2,519. At 6.57% your monthly payment is $2,412. You’re saving about $1,000 per month or $12,000 per year compared to eight months ago.
Over the course of a 30-yr loan you’ll pay a total of $906,851.86 for the 7.07% loan and
$868,453.73 for the 6.57% loan. So, at today’s rate, that’s a saving of $38,398.
Last, take a look at the image below. This shows the historic hurricane and storm activity in Florida. The next 70+ days are peak hurricane season. The general public knows this. So do home buyers. This keeps the majority of market participants on the sidelines as these buyers won’t plan to visit during the next 70 days or more.
That’s too bad as this is when home sellers get nervous due to lack of showing activity for their home. These issues create our buyers market each year, but this year its never been so strong.
So: months of supply is in a firm buyers market… overall supply is near historic highs… mortgage rates just had a significant drop… and sellers will be anxious today through the end of October to sell.
I write about this every August. But this year is more pronounced than ever before. We have four elements in the Delray Beach real estate market that are lined up perfectly for buyers as our buyers market strengthens.
This year I can answer your question above with ease: now!
It’s not often real estate buyers market metrics align like this. Take advantage of it. Waiting may only cost you more, yet today, you can save some fiat currency while having more options to look at than we’ve ever had.
—————————————————
*** If you were one of the folks who stopped me at Trader Joes, French Bakery, or SubCulture in the last week acknowledging I’ve been making my Delray Beach YouTube videos again – thank you. I’m speechless and grateful that you’re watching and noticed I was absent earlier this year. I’m back making these videos with enthusiasm. My next video will be out this week so keep your clicker nearby and visit my YouTube channel
*** Get caught up with my Delray Beach BUYERS MARKET theme that’s be the biggest idea of 2025 so far. Check out what I’ve written here, here, and here
*** Speaking of Interest Rates, I wrote about 5 ways to maximize your purchasing power this year in a recent blog post
——————————————-
*** South Florida Real Estate Inventory is ABOVE 2019***
Last week’s supply was 60,227
Today’s supply is 59,020
*** Supply is Down 1207 units last week ***
*** Supply is DOWN 6 of 7 weeks***
