in our Spotlight on Business Report tonight it is going to take a lot more than lower mortgage rates to make homeownership more affordable thanks to a recent drop rates are at their lowest level in more than a year but at 6 and a half% on average experts say people aren't necessarily racing to jump into the market there are still a lot of other factors for prospective home buyers to contend with namely limited inventory record high prices and lingering fears of a recession so what does it mean for the future of the housing market Ted Goldberg takes a look it's no secret that for real estate we're living in a sellers Market despite interest rates being more than twice as high as what they were during the pandemic the value of a home has continue to rise it's not only New Jersey but it's been a nationwide Trend as well Ted uh and it's never happened before real estate experts like Jeffrey atau say there could be some relief for home buyers in the coming months the Federal Reserve board meets in mid-september and the decisions they make will have wide ranging effects on the housing market what we expect to see happen going forward is that interest rates will continue to fall the inventory of houses on the market will rise and home prices will slow below this very very high rate of increase that we've been seeing in recent years but that's not a perfect solution for people trying to buy a home more buyers will jump into the market and if that happens it's going to keep the housing prices High it could even increase the housing prices experts generally agree that housing is expensive with mortgage rates so high and so few people trying to sell their homes there's lots of people who kept refinancing or purchased at just the right time and they might be at two and a quarter or 2 and a half% and then they look at rates at 6% 7 % 7 and a half% they're thinking how do I sell my property to buy something to downsize New Jersey home buyers have also faced competition from New Yorkers looking to leave the city originally they were trying to escape from the high concentrations of covid virus infections in New York City um but with time with hybrid and work from home models uh High income households from New Jersey from New York City moved into New Jersey and caused home prices to inflate in September the FED is expected to cut interest by a quarter of a percent leaving it at around 6% Ken Baris owns birkshire hathway Home Services Jordan Baris realy in North Jersey as soon as rates di below 5% again you're going to see just a blizzard of real estate hitting the market that's that psychological number and the mathematical number where somebody at 2 half% can still make a move and feel okay about it anything helps but getting below 5% for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is probably the point at which we'll see the market start to free up these experts say potential home buyers should still dive in right now would be a great time for buyers to jump into the market you know there's always refinancing that they can do because once those interest rates come down we're going to see an influx of buyers com in I would say buy something you like rather than rent something you love because you're going to love the equity over time every time you rent you're helping to build equity in somebody else's property why not do it in your own home the FED factors in several variables when deciding to cut interest rates unemployment numbers and inflation play a big part so all eyes will be on the FED in September to see if they will make more homeowners in New Jersey for NJ Spotlight news I'm Ted Goldberg [Music]