Fixed-rate mortgages are down again, opening more opportunity for buyers and sellers In the very near future, the Echo Boomers will have a positive effect

Fixed-rate mortgages (FRM) have declined again according to Freddie Mac’s Mortgage Market Survey, and there are some very motivated sellers out there who are willing to deal. This week the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.36 percent, a 0.7 point drop from the previous week. A year ago, this mortgage averaged 5.24 percent.

The 15-year FRM set a record low with an average of 3.86 percent. Last year at this time the 15-year mortgage averaged 4.58 percent. Home sales, both existing and new, slowed down precipitously in July following the close of the $8,000 tax credit plan. Freddie Mac Deputy chief economist Amy Crews Cutts reports that much of the recent housing slowdown was “expected due to the recently expired homebuyer tax programs.” On the plus side, Crews Cutts sees house prices stabilizing. “Nationally, house prices rose 0.9 percent seasonally adjusted during the second quarter. This after 11 consecutive quarterly declines.”

While much of the economic news isn’t as heartening as we projected, there is some room for hope for buyers and sellers. Sellers really want to sell. They are motivated, want to deal and move on. In the same scenario, lenders are eager to sell foreclosed and underwater properties. This is an opening for buyers who are patient, willing to wait and push complex contracts to a successful end.

As it is now, the crux of economic recovery depends on more employment, which will lead to a more robust housing market and increased consumer spending. Looking ahead, another massive influence in housing is the coming of age of the Echo Boomers, or the children of the baby boomers. Born between 1977 and 1997, this group is the largest demographic group in the United States and is expected to raise housing demand for the next two decades.

This group will be buying real estate, but in a much different way than their parents. Tethered to high-tech, digital devices and more impressed with their peer’s opinions rather than traditional advertising, this social networking generation will test buyers, sellers and the real estate industry to adapt to their way of doing business.

As we struggle with a slow economic recovery, it will be interesting to see how we learn to adapt to a new way of doing business in the very near future.