Recent data revealed that the US real estate market took a downward turn in 2022, as rising interest rates quickly slowed the frantic activity that occurred during the previous year, but house prices still reached a record high.
The average price of home sales during the past year was about $ 386,300, an increase of 10.2% over 2021, and the highest ever dating back to 1999, according to recent data issued by the National Association of Realtors.
Home sales recorded their weakest year since 2014, when about 5.03 million homes were sold, a decrease of 17.8% from the previous year, according to CNN.
According to the data, sales of existing homes – which include single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums, and co-ops – fell for the eleventh consecutive month last December, even as mortgage rates, which exceeded about 7% last November, fell slightly. Buyers have been pushed out of the market by high prices and rates are still double what they were a year earlier.
In December 2022, sales were down 1.5% from the figures for November and down 34% compared to the same period last year. All regions of the country saw sales decline year-on-year, three regions experienced month-to-month declines, while the West was unchanged.
But prices continued to rise last December, with an average price of $366,900, an increase of 2.3% over last year. The price increase points to more than a decade of monthly gains on a yearly basis.
NER chief economist Lawrence Yoon says December was another tough month for buyers, who were still faced with limited inventory and high mortgage rates.
“However, expect sales to pick up again soon, as mortgage rates have fallen significantly after peaking late last year,” he added.
