Rising interest rates and softening markets in Utah

[Joseph Davis]

I'd like to get an opinion from the community regarding the eventual likelyhood of rising interest rates & subsequent lack of purchasing power.  The market in Utah is really hot right now & as much as we are trying, we are not finding any buy & hold deals with good enough margins.  

As we are anticipating an eventual  "cooling off" period, my wife and I are well capitialized enough to take advantage of better deals. But we may have less purchasing power if that slow down comes because of rising interest rates.  So what happens when interest rates rise & then we see a slow down in new construction & retail home sales? Doesn't this risk factor put us in the same boat as a hot market with low interest rates?  

As we have looked at many properties, price appreciation is at the bottom of the list of important factors.  We are primarily looking for long-term buy & hold rental properties with good cash flow.  PM me & I will give you all the details of what specific properties & margins I am looking for.

[William Hochstedler]

Record low interest rates are only one of many factors driving the market right now.

The biggest one, however, is inventory.  We have not fully recovered from the lowest home starts ever a few years ago.

The general consensus is that an uptick in interest rates will soften the frenzy we are now seeing (multiple offers over list, etc).  This means that the rate of appreciation will slow, but prices probably won't actually fall.  That usually comes from overbuilding and speculation.

A whole bunch of threads here about that.