Author: Emily Denney

Here's a quick update on Park County's real estate market. Homes are selling at a similar pace as before. The number of available houses and completed sales both remain consistent.

An analysis of 1.35M US purchase loans from Early-Q1 2023 through Late-Q4 2025 showed wide differences in borrower rates within the same month.
Within a given month, the middle 80% of borrowers landed in a 93-basis-point range, equal to ~$28.4K in home price on $2K budgets.
Credit mattered most. Raising a score from the high 600s to 720 improved likely pricing, and the key thresholds to watch were 700 and 720.
Comparison shopping offered the clearest immediate opportunity: within retail lending, a very competitive lender beat a typical one by 19 basis points, worth ~$5.8K.
Reaching 20% down barely changed the rate, improving it by just 0.7 basis points; the bigger savings came from avoiding mortgage insurance.

New listings of US homes rose ~3% MoM in Mid-Q3 to their highest level in over four years, as mortgage-rate lock-in eased.
Total homes for sale also grew ~4% MoM in Mid-Q3, widening overall supply as more sellers adjusted to slower market conditions nationwide.
Pending home sales were essentially flat MoM in Mid-Q3, while closed sales edged lower, showing buyers remained selective as supply improved nationally.
High housing costs kept demand stagnant: the median US sale price reached ~$399K after a yearly ↑2%, while mortgage rates averaged near 7%.
More listings let buyers compare homes, negotiate price, repairs or closing costs, and ~60% of homes sold below original asking price in Mid-Q3.

Risk repricing pushed lending costs higher across the US, including 30-yr fixed mortgages, creating a sharper affordability challenge for Gen-Z and younger millennial buyers.
By Early-Q4, the national avg. 30-yr mortgage rate had climbed from ~3% at end-2020 to low-7%, lifting payments sharply on the same loan amount.
For each $100K borrowed, monthly principal-and-interest costs moved from ~$400 to ~$690, showing how rate resets quickly changed affordability for typical households.
Since Mid-Q1, payments on a ~$500K home with 10% down had increased ~$368 monthly, trimming disposable income and making household moves harder.
As rates climbed, owners with older low-rate mortgages had less reason to move, limiting turnover and leaving first-time affordability near multidecade lows.

Higher borrowing costs are raising the cost of delaying a purchase, as buyers who wait face potentially larger monthly payments if financing conditions remain elevated.
Home prices are not falling fast enough to offset financing costs, meaning waiting for a cheaper home does not automatically guarantee a lower overall purchase cost.
Buyers still have negotiating opportunities in some markets, particularly where inventory has improved and sellers are competing for fewer offers.
Takeaway: Waiting can make sense for some buyers, but the decision now depends on the full cost of financing, price and negotiating leverage—not rates alone.