The Wall Street Journal reports, “For the second time in history — and the second time in as many months — average rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell below 4 percent.”
This might explain why, a week or so before Thanksgiving and the start of the usual holiday lull, we are still seeing isolated bidding wars on reasonably priced homes in consistently desirable towns. My colleague just received four offers on a listing for a 1,700-square-foot modular home without a garage on a busy road, priced below $650,000.
Which is not to say it is back to the crazy seller’s markets of yore. Word on the street is that the highest winning bidder on this one backed out immediately. And sometimes those other bidders breathe a sigh of relief and do not come back to the table, spooked away from the process for the time being.
A house we signed under agreement this weekend was on the market in the same price range, though for 65 days. While this is not a horribly long period of time in this economy, the first weekend had just under 100 parties through, with potential buyers and brokers literally tripping over each other, asking how and when they could get their offers in. When the appointed time arrived, all we heard were crickets. Nobody wanted to get into a multiple bidding war. And so no one bid. And they all seemingly moved on.
