Rising mortgage rates and record home prices have become the norm for the opening months of the spring housing market. Frenzied buyer demand for the few homes offered for sale since mid-March has pushed purchase prices 20% above what they were listed at.

Sellers offering homes priced below $300,000 have been receiving multiple offers above asking price with escalation clauses and appraisal guarantees.  An escalation clause provides that the buyer will pay $2000 more (example) than any other competing offer up to a set price, often 20 to 25% more than the asking price.  An appraisal guarantee assures that the buyer will pay the difference between the mortgage appraisal and the offered price. With many offers, buyer have even been waiving the inspection option.

Interest rates on a 30-year conventional mortgage have risen from 3.5% at the close of 2021 to between 5% to 5.4%.  However, increasing housing prices and interest rates has not slowed down the Lansing area real estate market enough to be noticeable.  This is probably due to rising rental rates continuing to make home ownership the better option.

Market  View – June 1, 2022
• 458 currently listed homes for sale in the five county greater Lansing area.
• 302  homes have accepted offers. Awaiting inspections and/or appraisal.
• 476 homes are listed as Pending. Have completed inspections and will soon close.
• 2486 homes have closed since January 1, 2022.
• 7331 homes have closed in the past 12 months.

Mortgage interest rates
30 year fixed – 5.1% ($5.43 per $1000)
15 year fixed – 4.31% ($7.55 per $1000)