“Home sales have been stable for several months, neither rising nor falling in any meaningful way,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said. “Mortgage rate changes will have a big impact over the short run, while job gains will have a steady, positive impact over the long run. The South had a lighter decline in sales from a year ago due to greater regional job growth since coming out of the pandemic lockdown.”
As of Sept. 21, Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed mortgage rate had increased to 7.19%, up from 7.18% the previous week and 6.02% last year.
The surge in rates was also accompanied by high house prices, with the median price for all existing home types jumping 3.9% year over year in August to $407,100.
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“Home prices continue to march higher despite lower home sales,” Yun added. “Supply needs to essentially double to moderate home price gains.”
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