Housing Market 2026: What to Know About Buying, Selling, Moving #realestate #housingmarket

A high mortgage rates and home prices have made for a bit of a sluggish market in recent years. So will 2026 bring any relief for prospective buyers? Here with everything you need to know is our senior business correspondent, Christine Romans. Christine, OK, there's some good news here. We could see mortgage rates actually go down because for most people, they are going to need a mortgage. Look, the hope is that 2026 is going to be better than last year. Right. And we've seen this deep freeze in housing. And I think it's starting to thaw. So a 30 year fixed rate mortgage right now, about six point zero four percent. Guys, that's a three year low. And if you're looking at a 15 year fixed, that is below six percent. And the experts tell us we've got a range of estimates for this year. But anywhere from five and three quarters to six point three percent. Guys, that's a lot better than the seven or almost eight percent of a couple of years ago. And most people are in a mortgage below five percent. They're not going anywhere. But we're starting to see some movement here. By the end of last year, you had about one in five mortgages in this country were at six percent. So people are giving up on the idea of two and three percent mortgages again. And they're starting to buy homes. Remind folks again, Christine, when they should perhaps consider refinancing after you. Look, if you bought a home at six and a half percent, you're not refinancing at six. But if you're way up near, you know, near seven and a half or higher. Now you can start looking at the math and see what it will cost you. Remember, you're going to pay closing costs again. So be careful. All right. So we've got interest rates. We've got interest rates covered. Let's talk about inventory. Right. Let's talk about home prices as well. So home prices by the end of last year were still rising, but not as quickly. And that's important because prices have been rising outside of people's reach. So home prices are increasing at a slower rate. Inventory is improving and the expectation is going to improve a lot this year. That means affordability is improving as well. So you've got more homes in buyers' budgets that we hope are going to be on the market this year. Look at that. Almost nine percent improvement in inventory, according to Realtor.com and Zillow. And home sales, existing home sales. You've seen home sales rise at the end of last year. I think a five year high for. So you've got a five year high for home sales, a three year low for mortgage rates. See what I mean? How things are starting to thaw a little bit in that deep freeze in housing. And what cities do you think might we might see the most improvements? It's so cool when you look at the beginning of the year where you. So this is from the National Association of Realtors. If you look, Charleston, Charlotte. It's interesting when they say Charleston, just be somewhat familiar with that housing. OK, I don't I wonder if they're talking about Charleston proper or if they're talking about the seven or eight, you know, towns around Charleston. So I will find out for you, Mr. South Carolina, but I'm going to say Charleston for our purposes. Charlotte, Columbus, Indianapolis, Jacksonville. Look, this is based on demand. Demand is good in these towns. Affordability is improving in places like Minneapolis and Raleigh and Richmond. The housing supply and AR tells us matches the budget of buyers, which is important. You could have inventory improved, but if it's all stuff that's really expensive, doesn't help you. Spokane, Salt Lake, these are the housing hotspots. But then if you look at first time home buyers who've had a real hard time over the past few years, a lot of places kind of out east and some city centers, I thought was interesting. Rochester, Harrisburg, PA, Granite City, Illinois, Birmingham, Alabama, North Little Rock. OK, so for Little Rock, we are getting very specific with Charleston, sorry, Syracuse, Baltimore, St. Louis Park, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, PA and Garfield Heights, Ohio. And those are for first time homebuyers, people trying to just for the first time get in the market. And, you know, you and I've talked about this. The first the age of the first time homebuyer. Yeah, a very long in the tooth, 40 years old. But that's the highest it's ever been. So people are at home with their parents. We're hoping that things get a little bit better and that people aren't priced out so much this year. So if someone's watching or listening right now, Christine, and they're like, you know what, I actually may want to buy a home in 2026. What should they be doing right now to prepare? Even if the moment isn't right for you, you can always be getting ready, obviously saving money for the down payment. But try to improve your credit score. The better the credit score, the higher the credit score, the lower the interest rate. You want to get that six percent or some six percent. Know your budget. A lot of people look at the mortgage rate and the home price, and that's how they're calculating what they can afford. Insurance prices are up a lot. Homeowners Association fees, repairs, repairs, a lot of these important things that you want to consider. So don't price yourself out of a home because of those those other prices and be flexible about size and location. Maybe you have to move a little bit further out to get maybe a bigger house and a further out subway, some someplace around Charleston. That's one of your five circles places. Mount Pleasant, Sullivan's Island, Isle of Palms, maybe you got to move out. Or if you need to be close to the city center, maybe it's a smaller bungalow you're buying. So you just have to be flexible on your budget, where you're going to where you're going to live, how close you are to the city center and how big. By the way, to people who are watching and listening in Charleston right now, I guarantee you. Well, there's also like, please don't come. No more people. Charleston is the most beautiful town. It is such a cool place to go to walk. I love Charleston. So do I. Let's take the show there. Thank you. God knows we've tried. We've tried. Mr. Roker, how are we looking as we head into the weekend? I love Charleston as well. You just got to be careful getting getting trampled by those bachelorette parties. Oh, my gosh, they are just on the loose.