SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) — As the war in the Ukraine rages, local experts have seen unexpected and favorable market shifts for Michigan's would-be home buyers.
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Realtor Michael Perna and the "Perna Team" with Keller-Williams Realty in Novi, said to WWJ's Mike Campbell that the unexpected shift — the result of measures put in place to assure against an economic collapse — has stopped hiking interest rates and instead caused them to drop.
Usually, uncertainty — such as a war or world crisis — affects real estate in a negative way as buyers tend to withhold purchases and create less demand.
According to Pern, this is not the case this time around as lowering interest rates created an ideal environment for purchasing a new home.
"Now we have buyers that are jumping in and taking advantage of the lower rates today than they were 30 days ago," said Perna.
The realtor said buyers who were hesitant before should act quickly as the lower interest rates won't be around for long.
"The Fed has made it very clear that they are rising rates throughout the year," Perna warned. "It was anticipated there'd be three rate raises, now Wall Street thinks there could be as many as five."
The Mero-Detroit relator also said they have seen no change in local home prices since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, and he anticipates values to jump as much as 10% as Michiganders come to realize that "life must go on."
Perna said it is still a Sellers Market as properties for sale remain limited.
"The only person I'm telling not to conduct real estate right now, not to buy or sell, are downsizers; if they can hold out six more months, they're going to see 5% to 8% more in the sales price and it's worth it."
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