Rent rates and interest rates both rising…Zillow goes on record saying it’s time to tighten our belts in the real estate market.
Looking at the future, the online real estate brokerage Zillow ( Z ) – Get Zillow Group Inc. Report foresees some weakness in the third quarter. It expects revenue from its platform serving real estate agents (Premier Agent) to drop 21% from a year earlier. A number of trends are making it more difficult for customers to get business, Zillow said in a letter to shareholders. · “Lower home-purchase demand driven by recent increases in interest rates, which has made home purchases less affordable. · “The recent double-digit percentage annual decline in … mortgage applications. · “Lower home-price appreciation driven by softening demand, and inventory levels that are growing but still lower than before the pandemic.” Trouble Ahead Bottom line: “Although demand indicators stabilized in July compared to June, we expect second-half 2022 total industry transaction dollar volume to meaningfully contract year over year,” Zillow said. So the outlook isn’t pretty. If the Federal Reserve keeps […]