US home sales are at their lowest levels since 1995
Residential real estate market sales declined in 2023 in America, as steadily rising interest rates slowed activity to the lowest level in 28 years, at a time when home prices are still resisting the decline, stable near their highest levels ever.
The average home sale price in 2023 was about $389.8 thousand, an increase of about 1% from 2022, which is the highest average ever recorded, according to data from the National Association of Realtors, released today, Friday.
Lawrence Yun, the association’s chief economist, said this is good news for the 85 million homeowners, as it shows the value of the assets they own is rising. But he pointed out that the data proved that it is “a crazy market for new home buyers, who were forced to leave the market due to high prices, and due to the high interest rates applied to mortgage loans in most periods of the year, which limited the ability of those wishing to buy, and did not It’s been happening for decades.
As a result of high prices and low inventory, US home sales fell to their lowest level since 1995, with 4.09 million homes sold, a decrease of 19% from the previous year, which in turn witnessed a decline in home sales by 18%.
“The recent, rapid rise in housing prices over three years is clearly unsustainable,” Yoon said. “Facilitating the path to homeownership for today’s renters is essential, and requires economic growth, income growth, and, most importantly, a steady increase in housing construction.”
Yoon added that last month’s sales appear to have bottomed out, and he expects them to rise “definitely in the new year.”
“The interest rates applied to mortgage loans are significantly lower compared to what they were just two months ago, and more inventory is expected to appear on the market in the coming months,” he said.
2024-01-19 16:03:33
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