Omaha realtors notice new trends in housing market

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - This week mortgage rates hit 5.23%.

That rate was less than 3% this time last year, according to Freddie Mac.

Increased mortgage rates are affecting the housing market by pushing out some homebuyers and reducing the demand. This shift is leading to more inventory and longer listing times before houses sell.

Marina and Carlos Scruggs have been searching for nine months for their new home.

“We had our very first house that we really fell in love with. And we went to put an offer in and literally the house was sold in hours,” said Mrs. Scruggs.

They have three teenagers and want to consolidate their two homes into one. Now they’re seeing more options for sale.

“It used to be a house or two or three maybe, and they used to sell quick. And now it’s more like the range of eight to 12 houses, and you can see they’re being on the market for like a week or more,” she said.

Experts back up what Marina is seeing. And it’s promising news for homebuyers.

“The inventory for homes for sale in the month of April has gone up 5.9% from April of last year. And the months of supply of inventory has gone up 14.3% from April of last year,” according to Tanner Sherman, a realtor in Omaha.

Unfortunately, according to Realtor.com the median asking price for homes is still rising. Couple that with higher mortgage rates, and some people are settling for less or nothing at all.

Ken Janson is another realtor who is seeing the market shift.

“Their buying power is what it’s all about. If they had their heart set on a half-a-million-dollar house and now the payment on the half-a-million-dollar house is beyond their income stream, well then maybe they’re at a $400,000 house now. Which is still a fabulous house, but it’s not a half-million-dollar house,” said Janson.

The result is less competition for certain homes.

But the Scruggs say they have enough equity on the two homes they own to not have to take out a mortgage.

So, for now, the Scruggs are anxiously waiting to see if their offer will be accepted.

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