Forefront | Blog
Forefront Friday – Housing Market
The latest reports indicate that the U.S. housing market is starting to cool off as record prices and rising mortgage rates continue to deter what would be potential buyers. In June, the median sales price of an existing home climbed to $416,000, which is the highest ever recorded. At the same time, sales of homes fell for a fifth straight month and almost 15% of home-purchase agreements that were pending in June fell through, which is the highest level since when the pandemic started. Despite these concerns, homes are still reported as selling quickly, with properties remaining on the market for 14 days in June, yet the total inventory of homes for sale has started to increase. Much of these changes in the housing market have come from rising rates, and the federal reserve has not indicated that interest rate increases are expected to slow down. With inflation still rising, at 9.1% in June, which is much higher than the feds 2% goal, many consumers see too many risks in the market and are waiting on the sideline to see what changes take place before rushing into a large home purchase.
