- The US housing market is historically unaffordable, and home sales and inventory remain low.
- National Association of Realtors data shows existing-home sales are down 16.6% from last July.
- At the same time, total housing inventory is 14.6% lower compared to a year ago.
Americans are facing a historically unaffordable housing market thanks in part to the Fed’s high interest rates and a decade of under-supply of homes across the US.
Home prices have remained stubbornly high even with mortgage rates hovering near a two-decade peak, and confusing supply and demand dynamics have left economists split on the outlook for next year and beyond.
Current home owners that locked in lower mortgage rates during the pandemic or earlier are now unwilling to move. That subtracts both supply and demand from the market, and leaves other house hunters — who face new, higher rates — sidelined with fewer options.
Two key statistics illustrate just how tight the landscape has become over the last 12 months.
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