I don't like the unknown. If I was in a good position to buy now and stop renting and I could live with the interest rate, I'd buy now.

The bedroom communities are going to feel more pain before recovery. There is a wave of builder liquidation coming. A builder had 270 houses under contract this summer for fall closings. 210 cancelled Buyers no longer qualify or can't sell their existing home. Commercial credit for production builders has dried up and regulators are making banks reserve for losses even if their portfolio is performing.

I don't think you'll have a decline of 10% on the house you're thinking of buying. It may depend on where you choose to live, but I don't see a steep decline in prices. What I am seeing is that sellers are reluctant to overprice their homes now and they are now being very realistic with their expectations. As a real estate agent, I always tell my clients that the market will respond to what we list the price. It will tell us that the list price is good or that we need to make adjustments. I'm still waiting on ABOR to release their newest data but you can get an idea of what's happening in the market. September houses rose 5% over last year. I think that's the type of appreciation we will start to see. I believe that anything between 3-7% would be healthy. Gone are the days of 15-20% appreciation rates. Something to also look at is that active listings rose 162% compared to last year and that housing inventory rose 2.1 from last year as well. We are starting to see more houses and they are starting to sit longer than the past months. Last year there were about 6 buyers to every listing. That number is down to 2 now. This is still considered a seller's market, but buyers are starting to get that bargaining power back. My partner, Red Pear Luke, and I just recently closed on a house in Round Rock. Our client was able to get it for about $93K off the original list price. I also recently closed on a deal in September in south Austin where my clients came out ahead. They were able to buy the house for $19k less than list price. They recently sent me a text asking me to check what a house in their new neighborhood sold for. They were shocked when I told them the sellers got $50k over asking.



Here's an article from Austin Business Journal. They interviewed Jamie Dimon who runs JPMorgan Chase. He had nothing but good things to say about the strong job market.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2022/11/15/jamie-dimon-visits-austin-chase-bank-branch.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_21&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

I'd be happy to help you find your Austin home once you're ready to make the move. We split our commissions with our clients so that means more money back in your pocket for closing or buying down your rate. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. My contact info is in my profile. Thanks and Gig 'em!

Definitely take Red Pear up on the offer, cheapest SFH in Allandale is going to run you 7-800k so that 12 k back in your pocket