As a curiosity, how many people in this thread are home buyers that sat on the sidelines over the past year or two and are now waiting for prices to drop?<p>I’m in that camp and I’m starting to suspect there are enough people in that camp that any noticeable drop in prices will be immediately met by strong demand, even at current rates.
Redfin cuts 13% of staff, Stripe cuts 14%, Meta cuts 13%. Is this proportion a coincidence?<p><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/03/stripe-cuts-14-of-its-workforce-ceo-says-they-overhired-for-the-world-were-in/" rel="nofollow">https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/03/stripe-cuts-14-of-its-work...</a> , <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/09/meta-to-lay-off-more-than-11000-thousand-employees.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/09/meta-to-lay-off-more-than-11...</a>
On timing the market: you cannot time the market. However, you can have a sense of what the historical rates for mortgages are and will probably return to.<p>Back when they were at ridiculously low levels, I would tell people "Get a 15-year loan now! You'll be paying off principal as well as interest, real soon."<p>They'd object, reasonably, "Oh, I can't afford those payments!" So now with higher rates, what will they pay for that 30-year?<p>You can also object that nothing stops you from making extra principal payments, on top of your regular monthly payment. That's true. But will you?<p>Is all that incorrect? You can do this analysis in Excel or Google Sheets.
This entire comment lacks evidence or data to support it but I used to work in SFR and still keep tabs with several companies on a personal basis.<p>Redfin and Zillow are not the problems in the SFR industry. These are tech companies that were trying to capitalize on the PE flowing into SFR. Their lack of success is not an indicator for the industry as a whole.<p>Make no mistake about it: SFR is alive and well and increased rates will not hurt them. Most have paused acquisitions but their cash flow is still fantastic. The outcomes over the next 24 months will play in their favor and those companies will grow as the economy pulls back.
I had no idea Redfin had the home flipping unit too.<p>The real estate prices and estimates clearly are on a downward trajectory. Previously redfin struggled to keep up with growing value in their estimates and so always came in lower to the asking price. Now they constantly come in higher.
I think most appraisers could have told them this was an untenable business model before they even started...<p>This is what happens when you throw cheap money at smooth-talking tech-bros living in the coastal bubbles.
Corpo home pillagers deserve everything bad they're getting. Young families need homes. I wish the government would step in and protect something so necessary for it's citizens.