After rising interest rates through 2022, the start of 2023 has seen interest rates stabilize around 6%. Now that buyers have more confidence that they know what to expect regarding their mortgage payments and mortgage lenders are starting to pursue buyers again, home sales are experiencing a rebound, and the market is beginning to pick up speed as we approach the spring and summer.

In January, contract signings jumped by over 8%, the largest month-to-month jump since June 2020, when the market grew exponentially. This shows that buyers are ready to take advantage of the stable lower rates, and an increase of 7.2% in new construction single-family home sales shows that perhaps these same buyers are looking for the predictability and safety of purchasing a brand-new home.

So is Now a Good Time to Buy a Home?

While no one can tell the future, the forecasted average mortgage rate for 2023 is 6.1% and 5.4% for 2024, meaning you can expect the current rates to stay within this range. There shouldn’t be any surprises moving forward, and there aren’t going to be any sudden drops to the low-interest rates we saw in 2020, so there’s little reason to put your life on hold to see if the interest rates change.

House prices have also stabilized, returning to the steady growth we saw before the pandemic caused such a rapid increase through 2020 and 2021. With all this predictability, you don’t need to worry about rushing into something to get your offer accepted – you can do your math and feel confident in your affordability, which has been a major concern for those considering buying over the past year.

Buying a New Home in Arizona

New homes offer buyers predictability; used homes often come with problems and, even if they are recently renovated, will have aspects that will need replacing sooner than is necessary with a new home. But besides the evergreen reasons why a new home is often a better option than a used home (read on here if you want to know more), home builders are offering incentives that can make now an opportune time to buy a new home.

There are more ready-to-move-in new homes available due to the high-interest rates slowing the market at the end of 2022. If you are ready to move now and don’t want to wait months for your brand new home to be ready, you can get the same quality of home and move into one of our quick move-in homes available in Prescott Valley, Clarkdale or Flagstaff.

Move Forward With Confidence

While both those looking for their first mortgage and that remortgaging isn’t going to be as happy about a mortgage at 6% as they would have been with the 3.5% being offered three years ago, those rates were historic lows, and the 6% we’re seeing now is stable. The good news is that calculating your affordability is a lot more reliable now – if you can afford your home at 6% you won’t get a nasty surprise, as many who bought a home with a fixed-rate mortgage between 2019 and 2022 are now getting when they remortgage.

If you’re looking to move in or to Arizona, we’ve got some beautiful ready-to-move-into homes you can buy and move into right now, as well as some upcoming projects on the horizon. To find out more about our homes in the Prescott, Flagstaff, and Clarkdale areas, click here