IT TAKES MORE THAN 17 YEARS TO SAVE FOR A DOWN PAYMENT IN BOCA RATON!

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Hi everybody, Joe Hillner with Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty, where we guarantee the sale of your home or I'll buy it!

I share market data weekly to inform you about the local real estate market.

Here is this week’s Boca Market Watch.
 

Single Family Homes

This past week, 61 new listings, that's not too bad, ranged in price from $365K to $9M! 13 homes back on the market, while 60 homes listed took a price decrease, and 4 sellers raised their asking price. And a terrible week, with just 28 different properties under contract, and 28 going pending. Only 13 homes were unsuccessful in selling and were taken off the market or the listing expired outright. And a similar week to last week with 48 homes sold, ranging from $415K to $14.75M!

Condos and Townhomes

69 new listings, not bad, and ranging from $125 Grand to $16.5 Million, wow! That's for a penthouse at the new Mandarin Oriental. 16 units came back on the market, 71 properties with a price decrease, and 8 sellers with an increase. And a down week with 42 different properties under contract, and 29 going pending! 19 condos or townhomes were unsuccessful in selling and were taken off the market or the listing expired. 58 closed sales this week, like last week, and ranging in price from $101K to $3M.
 

Here's what's making news right now

It takes the average Boca resident over 17 years to save up for a 10% down payment on a home, according to a recent Axios analysis.

Using data from Zillow, Axios determined the typical amount of time it takes to save for a down payment in every state based on home values and area median household income. The average across the U.S. is 8.9 years, assuming the potential buyer saves 5% of their household income every month.

With a median household income of $89,776 and a typical home value of $785,000, Boca residents can expect to spend about 17.5 years saving for a 10% down payment. Residents in Naples can expect a timeline of 13.2 years. The average time across Florida is 11.8 years.

While nearly two decades is a long time to save, residents in many metro areas have to wait even longer to be able to afford their down payment. In Los Angeles, it takes 19.8 years to save up for a house costing $885,600. The average saving time for the entire state of California is 16.4 years.


In other news, the average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose for the third week in a row, hitting 6.96% – up from last week’s 6.81% and 6.71% the week before.


On Wednesday, the U.S. government reported that inflation at the consumer level rose 3% in June from a year earlier, marking its lowest point since early 2021, though it remains above the Fed’s 2% target.

“Incoming data suggest that inflation is softening, falling to its lowest annual rate in more than two years,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “However, increases in housing costs, which account for a large share of inflation, remain stubbornly high, mainly due to low inventory relative to demand.”

High inflation has driven the Federal Reserve to jack up interest rates at a blistering pace. Beginning with its first hike in March 2022, the central bank has lifted its benchmark interest rate to about 5.1%, its highest level in 16 years, before forgoing a hike at its meeting of policymakers last month.


Mortgage rates don’t necessarily mirror the Fed’s rate increases, but tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Investors’ expectations for future inflation, global demand for U.S. Treasurys and what the Fed does with interest rates can influence rates on home loans.


Of course, high rates can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, limiting how much they can afford, in a market already unaffordable to many Americans. Where will it all end?