I don’t send market alerts often. When I do, it’s because something actually changed.
This week, mortgage rates dropped to 6.54% on the 30-year fixed. That’s per Mortgage News Daily as of June 29. Freddie Mac’s weekly average came in at 6.49%. Both are pointing to the lowest rates we’ve seen in over a month.
I’ve had three buyers tell me this spring that they’re waiting for rates to come down before they’ll commit. I understand that instinct. I don’t agree with it, but I understand it.
Here’s what I want those buyers to know.
Waiting for perfect rates is a losing game
Nobody called the 2021 rate floor on the way down. Nobody will call the next one either. What I know after 23 years in this market is that windows open, and then they close, and very rarely do they announce themselves loudly.This week’s rate dip isn’t a floor. It might not last. But it’s real and it’s happening right now, which is the only thing that matters if you’re trying to make a move.
The Austin math right now
Let me give you the actual numbers, because this is where it gets interesting.The Austin-area MLS is running 17,317 active listings right now. Six months of supply. Average days on market: 74. More than half of active listings have had at least one price reduction.Sellers are negotiating. They’ve been sitting. They want to close.You add a rate pullback to that environment and you have something most buyers haven’t seen in years: real negotiating power AND a lower payment.
What this looks like in the Lake Travis corridor specifically
Steiner Ranch, Lakeway, Bee Cave, Four Points. These are the markets I know, the streets I drive, the HOAs I’ve sat through.
In all four markets, buyers who come in priced right and move fast are winning. The sellers who’ve been sitting are the ones willing to deal. The sellers who just listed are still learning what the market will actually bear.
If you’ve been watching a home in any of these neighborhoods, this is the week to call me.Not because I’m trying to create urgency. Because the data is creating it for me.Reply, DM, or call me directly. I’ll run the numbers with you before you do anything else.
