Median home prices in the Reno-Sparks area have been on the rise since the pandemic. Now, those numbers are trending downward. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates again last week, by three-quarters of a percentage point.
"The median price has come down in recent months," said Beau Keenan, President and Owner of Dickson Realty. "I think most people have said over the last two and a half years, that this really isn't sustainable. When you talk about having 40% appreciation, at some point you're going to have a healthy dose of realization that that's unsustainable. So with the overstimulation came us having to kind of backtrack, and I think that's where increasing the mortgage rate was the intent to kind of slow things down, which we need at this time to fight inflation."
Inventory continues to be a problem, but those numbers are on the rise.
"Our inventory, which was at an all time low of 200-300 homes available in this market, is now closer to 1200 or 1300," Keenan said. "That is actually half of what it was back in the Great Recession. So we still have an inventory problem, but you have more inventory now to make an offer so you have choices. You can actually negotiate a little bit more, so if you're a buyer, you're actually in a really good spot right now to be purchasing."
Mortgage rates have jumped from around 3% into the 7% range just this year. But that's helped to cool the market, and give some frustrated potential buyers who got out of the market a year ago some new hope.
"I think we're more in a buyers market, ultimately, but sellers now have more equity than they've ever had," Keenan said. "So it's still a great sellers market at the end of the day, but the buyers just now have more choices, which is a healthy thing for this market."
The Fed is expected to continue to increase rates through the end of the year.
