Consider your home's cost, not just price

As a seller, you will be most concerned about ‘short-term price’ – where home values are headed over the next six months. As a buyer, however, you must not be concerned about price, but instead about the ‘long-term cost’ of the home.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae all project that mortgage interest rates will increase by close to a full percentage point by this time next year. According to CoreLogic’s most recent Home Price Index Report, home prices will appreciate by 4.3% over the next 12 months.

What Does This Mean as a Buyer?

If home prices appreciate by the 4.3% predicted by CoreLogic over the next twelve months, here is a simple demonstration of the impact an increase in interest rate would have on the mortgage payment of a home selling for approximately $250,000 today: