Mortgage interest rates have fallen below 7% for the first time in several months.
This is just another indicator of where the economy is headed in 2024.
This came days after the Fed opted to keep interest rates on hold. But the numbers are still high.
And that’s why home sales in the Triangle are down more than 15 percent. Due to the dramatic cooling down, many real estate agents are withdrawing from the industry and are being forced out of their jobs.
Real estate agents are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet as there are fewer for-sale signs in front of homes and rising interest rates keep buyers out of the market.
Morgan Saylor follows in her mother’s footsteps and works as a real estate broker.
“I witnessed her passion for helping customers purchase their forever homes,” Saylor said.
She entered the business of buying and selling homes just as the market in the Triangle was rising towards its peak.
“It was kind of crazy,” Saylor said.
That has changed in recent months.
“Well, we don’t have that many homes to show buyers, so we’re just waiting for listings to show up,” Saylor said.
So Saylor added part-time work at a real estate law firm to help weather the downturn in home sales.
“It’s to keep up with invoices and things like that, even if they don’t close every month,” Saylor said.
Mark Parker leads a team of 200 real estate agents and staff in Coldwell Banker HPW’s Midtown Raleigh office.
“I’ve been doing this job for about 25 years, and I’ve never seen the market slow down this drastically,” Parker said. “When the pandemic hit, a lot of people had extra time, so they went out and got their real estate licenses.”
In 2019, there were 8,689 real estate agents in the Raleigh area. 2,330 people joined the ranks during the pandemic, and that number peaked at more than 11,000 in 2021. This is a decrease of 6%.
As of December 2023, there were 10,389 real estate professionals working in the Raleigh area.
“They have to be more creative and work harder to advise their customers on what’s going on in the market today,” Parker said.
Parker said five agents have decided to exit the business in recent weeks.
“They went into survival mode,” he said.
But if mortgage rates trend downward as expected in the new year, those that persevere could see a rebound in business.
“It looks like we’re gearing up for a great spring market,” Saylor said.
This gave Saylor hope to return to real estate full-time.
“I have quite a few clients who can’t wait to buy a home,” she said.
The Raleigh Area Association of Realtors told WRAL it expects overall membership to decline 3 to 5 percent next year.
