It’s not a homebuyer’s market – yet. More residences are for sale, and prices are rising more slowly or even slightly falling. However, mortgage rates have crept up to 7%, and insurance is still costly.
Get advice and financial help from Tropical Financial Credit Union as you move forward. Now through the end of June 2025, receive up to $1,000 toward closing costs when you finance your new home purchase with the credit union. You can also be pre-qualified for a loan and work with a lending officer before you shop.
Here’s what you need to know:
Mortgage rates are rising, according to Freddie Mac. The average 30-year fixed rate was 6.89% on May 29, up from a recent low of 6.62% on April 10. The higher rate raises the annual cost on a $325,000 mortgage by $672 per year.
The upward trend in mortgage rates, now six months old, shows no signs of leveling off. Higher rates make it harder to qualify for the home you want. You can trade down in price – not quality -- to take the pressure off your pocketbook or get help financing from family.
Insurance premiums are not declining. For single-family homes in Florida, they edged up to $3,658 annually between the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Since insurance laws changed in 2022, they have jumped an average of 30.7% for homeowners.
Owning a home requires tradeoffs. You must budget not just for the mortgage, but property taxes, property insurance, mortgage insurance if you put down less than 20%, maintenance and other costs you may not have considered.
Tropical Financial, in partnership with Knowledge of Financial Education (KOFE), has an entire online section on homebuying. They include how to choose a real estate agent, make an offer, understand appraisals, and more.
Home prices show signs of falling, but not across the board. On the Treasure Coast, TCPalm reports, the median price of a single-family home declined in Martin and Indian River counties and rose in St. Lucie County in March. They rose in Miami-Dade County and were essentially flat in Broward and Palm Beach counties in April, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.
Don’t hold your breath thinking that sellers will slash prices even as more homes sit on the market for more days. A key indicator, the supply of inventory, is about six months in every county from Miami-Dade north into St. Lucie, the Realtors Association reported in April. That’s considered a healthy market, a vast improvement from the days when homes were snapped up as soon as for-sale signs were planted in front yards, but not a buyer’s market.
When to buy should be driven in part by personal priorities. Have you changed jobs and need to move? Has your family outgrown your home? Are you willing to make lifestyle tradeoffs to put more of your monthly budget into your home than travel and entertainment?
These critical decisions come at a time when the market looks more hopeful for buyers than in the past five years. Rather than go it alone, sit down with a Tropical Financial loan officer and review the numbers on your income sources, debts, credit score and spending habits. It may be as much fun as filing your income tax return, but you will emerge with a clear, less stressful understanding of how to approach the hunt for your next home.