The median price of existing homes sold in May was $419,300, the highest price ever recorded and up 5.8 percent from last year. National Association of Realtors.
This is the biggest price increase since October 2022.
The National Association of Realtors noted that mortgage payments for a typical home are now more than double what they were five years ago, and that the increase is due to rising home prices and higher interest rates that have led to higher mortgage rates.
Home sales are sluggish due to costs. more This is an increase of more than 50 percent compared to five years ago.
Despite hopes that home sales would recover this spring, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales were essentially flat, down 0.7 percent from April.
“Home sales are refusing to recover,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. “We had hoped we would see a recovery this spring, but that hasn’t happened.”
The U.S. housing market has been in a slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began to rise.
The average interest rate on a 30-year mortgage has been hovering around 7% this year.
The Federal Reserve has not cut interest rates even though inflation has subsided and the economy continues to grow.
The Fed last week said inflation has fallen further toward its 2% target in recent months and signaled it may cut interest rates once this year. The central bank had previously projected up to three rate cuts in 2024.
