Page 27 Fall Home & Garden | September 2024 Lincoln Daily News percentage of homes that dropped their price. Overall, however, Redfin does give each region a competitive level score based on data from the past three months. Out of 100, Redfin lists Lincoln at 87, putting it in the very competitive category. This shows readers that buying a house in Lincoln right now is a very costly and competitive venture. While having access to all this data can be helpful in determining the current status of the housing market, what might be even better is hearing from someone local, who has their finger on the pulse, as it were. Seth Goodman, owner and real estate broker of ME Realty, had several things to say about this topic. When asked about the current condition of the housing market in Logan County, Goodman described the market as “strong,” saying a property, if it is priced right, will receive several offers. Goodman did say the lack of existing homes for sale has “proven to still be an issue.” When asked about the cost of houses, and whether high interest rates have had an effect, Goodman did not think so. Goodman stated, “prices have remained fairly consistent.” He did share that some houses are selling above listing price since there are not as many homes on the market. This could account for Redfin’s claim that housing prices in Lincoln have risen about 33 percent since last year. When asked about whether the current housing market was a buyer’s or seller’s market, Goodman responded with “sellers for sure.” Goodman also gave some general advice to anyone looking to buy a home. The two most important things to do first when looking for a home is to contact a real estate broker and a lending institution. Once the institution preapproves you for a loan, this gives you a better idea of the price range you should be looking for when shopping for a house. Goodman also said, “if a property comes on the market today that is of interest yet you have not done either of these, you are likely already too late to the game!” Speaking of lending institutions, one of the most important things to consider when looking to take out a mortgage is the interest rate. While interest rates are not the highest they have ever been (in the 1980’s, they pushed past 18.5 percent), they are still hovering around seven percent today. This is in stark contrast to January of 2021, when the average interest rate was just over two and a half percent, the lowest they have ever been. Let’s look at an example. Bankrate has a mortgage calculator that we can plug some numbers into and see what would be paid Continue --
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