As was widely expected, the Federal Reserve raised rates on March 15th, 2017. This increased interest rates by a quarter of a point. While this move comes as no surprise, what’s most important now is to understand how this will ultimately affect real estate agents. Using a bottom-up model, we will cover how consumers will be impacted and how that impact will ultimately affect home buying or selling decisions.
Most consumers in the market will be faced with higher interest rates on their credit cards. Unless the cardholder has a fixed interest rate, (which is fairly uncommon) chances are their interest rates are going to go up. This increase will also cause concerns over home purchasing decisions.
One of the most apparent changes in the market will be to home prices, namely, that they will go up. While this can be beneficial for sellers, buyers may be a little more cautious before purchasing a home. Ultimately however, this could signal a slowing trend in the market and cut into real estate agents profits. This slowing trend might mean longer closing cycles and people shopping around for longer periods of time before committing to a property.
With a possible slowing trend in home sales on the horizon, real estate agents need to be taking advantage of every possible lead that they can. While agents aren’t expected to go out of business, you should remain aware of this trend and safeguard against it.
One of the best ways to safeguard against uncertain financial times is to build a robust program to convert as many leads as possible into sales. To learn how Zurple can help you close more while prospecting less, take a few minutes to chat with us.
