As Housing Market Cools, Realtors See More Buyer-Friendly Trends Emerge

As housing demand continues to decline following the uptick in mortgage rates, realtors and lenders are seeing signs of hope for people who have struggled in the competitive homebuying market.

"We've never seen a market like this in Collin County over the last 18 months," said Amy Zambrano, a realtor with The Daniel Team at Keller Williams Realty.

Zambrano helps families find their dream home in Collin County, which is the hottest housing market in North Texas and the least affordable according to a recent report from the Texas Real Estate Research Center. She says, after interest rates jumped roughly three points at the beginning of 2022, demand dropped and realtors started to feel the shift.

"It is a little bit more friendly so to speak," said Zambrano.

Zambrano isn't ready to call it a buyers market yet. Instead, she's describing the market's current climate as "buyer-friendly."

Crystal Parkinson, Area Manager for Cardinal Financial, said explained several emerging trends that are more favorable for families searching for a home.

"It is nice to be able to make a call to somebody and tell them the market is softening, hold on you're going to have a chance. One thing we are seeing now is more contingent offers are accepted. So, if a buyer has to sell their home before they can close those, are finally getting accepted," said Parkinson.

Parkinson also says homes are also staying on the market longer, going from an average of four to 18 days and more sellers are dropping prices.

Zambrano says builder incentives are making a comeback.

"A year ago a lot of them wouldn't return phone calls because they were just too busy and they didn't need the business," said Zambrano.

But things are changing.

"They are offering savings and cost concessions for buyers to come back," said Zambrano.

Parkinson says another buyer-friendly strategy that's gaining popularity is for sellers to buy down the buyer's mortgage rate.

"Instead of reducing the price, the seller would give that money as a seller credit to the buyer so they could buy the rate down. It actually makes more of an impact with the buyer's payment and it will also open up a pool of more buyers to qualify for that house at the list price," said Parkinson.

Parkinson says the practice of buying down rates could become popular as we watch for more potential rate hikes.

"We expect them to keep going, so the average of what's predicted is 8%," she said.

But both Parkinson and Zambrano say that shouldn't deter people from searching for a home.

"We can always change the rate, if the rates go down you can always refinance again but at this time they're predicting house prices are still going to go up," said Parkinson.

"Inventory is definitely increasing and it is not a hopeless cause," said Zambrano.

The mortgage rate hikes have had the biggest impact on many first-time home buyers. There are several programs designed to help prospective buyers with down payments and other resources.

Find information about grants and other forms of assistance available in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex from the Texas State Affordable Housing Cooperation, here.

Click here to learn more about Fort Worth's program designed to help first-time homebuyers.

To learn more about the Upfront Cost Assistance Program(UPCAP) in Dallas County, check out this story.