With the rise of mortgage rates, real estate experts such as myself are closely monitoring the inventory of housing and sales price to see if there appears to be a decline in demand. As of today, there has been no substantial decrease in prices but there is definitely a "shift" happening where the mortgage rates have adjusted and have also changed the amount of house a buyer can purchase. It's rare if we see 20 offers on one home (one home in Ewa had 60 offers at the peak of the market frenzy!), but now we may see 2-3 offers if the house is highly desirable. Check with your loan officer to see what programs work best for you and if you had been prequalified over a year ago, make sure you check in again since the rates have changed since the beginning of this year. Compared to 1981 when rates were 16.63%, todays rates of around 5% still look attractive but high prices will affect what the monthly mortgage amount will look like. I'll continue to monitor the mortgage rates and demand for Oahu's housing market and keep you updated.
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