John L. Scott Real Estate Chairman and CEO J. Lennox Scott, has announced that his company reported all-time record-breaking housing sales for the second month in a row, making July the most successful month in the companys 72-year history.
Not since the dot-com boom have we seen sales like this, said Scott, Back in 1999 wealth drove the housing market, but now its driven by historically low interest rates.
In addition to the ongoing market of first time homebuyers, Scott reported a surge in move-up buyers who are motivated to purchase higher-valued homes because of the savings tied to low interest rates.
Scott added that the spike in sales across all markets in July were a direct result of the one point increase in interest rates over the last 45 days.
Buyers are scrambling to take advantage of low interest rates while they can, said Scott, adding that with the recent up-tick in fixed-rate mortgage rates, the industry is starting to see more short-term loans, like the one-year, three-year, and five-year ARM, gain popularity.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, the ARM share of applications steadily increased over the last month to around 20 percent of applications last week.
Scott encourages buyers not to panic about interest rates.
Theres no doubt, interest rates have been phenomenal, he said, and as they rise into the six-percentile, theyre still fantastic and offer an exceptional opportunity for homeownership.
John L. Scott Real Estate has 117 offices and over 3,250 sales associates in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and is the fifth largest regional real estate company in the nation.
For more information about John L. Scott Real Estate, go to www.johnlscott.com
