Yes, people are still moving, even with today’s affordability challenges in place. Across the country, roughly 10,000 homes sell every single day, which works out to about 8 homes every minute. That number does not come from a peak year. It reflects what is happening right now, in this market, with these rates. So if you have been waiting for the “right time,” it may help to know that thousands of people just like you stopped waiting and moved forward anyway.

You know how it feels to keep watching the market, hoping things will shift in your favor? And then another month passes, rates stay stubbornly high, prices hold firm, and you are still in the same place you were last year? A lot of people in Gilroy are sitting with exactly that tension right now.

But here is the part most people have not stopped to think about yet: the market did not pause for the people who already moved. And it probably will not pause for you either. The question is whether you are making a deliberate choice to wait, or whether the wait is just happening to you.

What Does Your Housing Situation Actually Look Like Right Now?

Take a honest look at where you are. Are you renting? Have you watched your monthly payment climb while your landlord’s mortgage stayed fixed? What has that cost you, not just in dollars, but in flexibility, in stability, in the ability to make a space your own?

Or maybe you already own a home in Gilroy but you have been holding off on making a move because the numbers feel uncertain. Have you stopped to calculate what staying put is actually costing you in missed equity, missed space, or a commute that no longer makes sense?

These are not rhetorical questions. They are the kind of questions worth sitting with, because the answers usually point somewhere specific.

Today’s Affordability Is Tight. People Are Still Moving Anyway.

Here is what the data actually shows. The National Association of Realtors tracks a housing affordability index. A score of 100 means a household earning the average income can just barely qualify for a mortgage on an average-priced home. Right now, that index is sitting below 100 in many markets. Today’s affordability is genuinely tighter than it has been in recent memory.

And yet, at the current pace of sales, close to 4 million homes will change hands this year nationally. That works out to more than 450 homes per hour. Does that sound like a frozen market to you?

The people who are still moving are not doing it because conditions are ideal. They are doing it because their personal situation made waiting the more expensive option. Can you see how that distinction changes the way you think about your own timeline?

What Happens If Nothing Changes for You?

This is the question worth sitting with longest. If you keep doing exactly what you are doing today for the next three to five years, where does that leave you? If you are renting, how much will you have paid out with nothing to show for it in home equity? If you are in a home that no longer fits your life, how much longer can you absorb that friction?

The affordability challenges in today’s market are real. No one is pretending otherwise. But waiting for perfect conditions has its own cost, and that cost tends to be invisible until it is very large.

Explore Gilroy homes for sale and see what the current inventory actually looks like before you decide the numbers do not work for you.

How Are Other People Making This Work Right Now?

The short answer is: with help, and with flexibility. A skilled local broker is not just a paperwork facilitator. In a market defined by today’s affordability pressures, good guidance means knowing which concessions sellers are actually open to, which loan programs can meaningfully lower your effective rate, and which property types, condos, townhomes, or homes in adjacent neighborhoods, give you the most value for your budget.

Have you thought about what your options would look like if you widened the lens just slightly? Sometimes a different housing type or a slightly different location opens a door that felt closed. Does that kind of exploration feel worth having a conversation about?

People who are still moving in this environment are not doing it blindly. They are doing it with someone who knows the terrain. In the context of homes in Gilroy and the broader Santa Clara County market, that local knowledge is not a luxury. It is the difference between a deal that closes and one that falls apart in escrow.

What the Right Next Step Actually Looks Like

If anything in this article surfaced a question you have not been able to answer on your own, that is probably worth paying attention to. Not because you have to move, but because clarity about your options tends to reduce the anxiety that comes from sitting in uncertainty.

Do you think it would be worth a straightforward conversation to see what the numbers actually look like for your specific situation? Not a pitch. Not pressure. Just an honest look at where you are, where you want to be, and whether there is a path between those two points that makes sense right now.

Timothy Alston, Broker, DRE# 01328224, works with buyers and sellers navigating today’s affordability challenges across Santa Clara County, including Gilroy, Cupertino, and the surrounding communities. If you are still moving through the questions and want a second set of eyes on your situation, reach out directly at (408) 207-4593.