LOS ANGELES — In his 40 years selling South Bay homes, Jon Coleman has ridden the highs and the lows.

“The market has dropped relatively substantially within the past three to four months,” he said. “I’ve been doing this since 1980 and have been through four of these roller coaster markets.”

For the first time since 2008, average long-term mortgage rates have reached over 6%. A number that has more than doubled over the past year.  

As Coleman listens to his clients’ and potential buyers’ fears, he sees a multitude of concerns with the current market.

“I think that it’s more than interest rates. I think it is fears with what is happening in the economy,” he said. “I think people are concerned with what’s going to happen to their property values in the coming year.”

Christopher Bredesen has been looking into buying a home for the past six months.

“With rates doing what they’re doing, it kind of puts a little more uncertainty in my head,” he said.

Falling home prices but higher interest rates have put potential homebuyers like Bredesen in a difficult position. But homes are still selling.

“Every time the market drops and then when it rebounds, it rebounds where it was before,” Coleman said.

It is why he tells his clients to keep the big picture, the long-term perspective, in mind, and it is the same advice he would give to himself as a new real estate agent 40 years ago. 

For now, as the housing market cools down and interest rates go up, the negotiations get more nuanced as agents, buyers and sellers are all trying to close the best deal.