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To buy or not to buy? | Local realtors weigh in on East Tennessee housing market

Another interest rate hike, high housing prices and not a lot of inventory. So, should you buy?

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Popular financial adviser Dave Ramsey's advice about mortgages is trending on social media.

He says, in part, houses are the cheapest they'll be right now because prices are only going to climb over the next five years. So, if you are looking to buy a home do it now. 

We took this advice to our local experts to find out if they agree. 

Realtor Andrea Dubois said she does agree with Dave Ramsey. She said we will see slower increases in home prices which means we are headed into a healthier housing market and that's a good thing. 

"It won't be an auction kind of environment, like what we've experienced the past two years. We're going out of the 'put your house on the market for a couple of hours with 50 offers.' We're starting to see appraisals come back into the game.  We're starting to see home inspections, which all that is healthy," Dubois said.

When it comes to interest rates, Dave says if they come down—refinance. However, don't wait on them to come down to buy because housing prices are only going to go up. 

Local mortgage expert with Foundation Mortgage Nick Galbraith also agrees with Ramsey. 

"What we have right now is millennials, the largest generation ever, just reaching peak home-buying age. This is going to continue for about the next five to six years," Galbraith said. "And we're building about half the amount of houses to meet the demand for these new home creations. So supply and demand, it looks like supply is not going to meet demand and prices will continue to rise."

The Fed announced another interest rate hike on Wednesday, July 27, and Galbraith said he expects more hikes by the end of the year. 

"If you're wanting to refinance to take cash out, this is a great time to do it. If you're wanting to refinance to try to get a lower interest rate, I would say wait until next year.  Most likely we're going to see lower interest rates come back into the market next year," Galbraith said.

Galbraith says he foresees interest rates will come down over the next two years.

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