The latest evidence that homeownership is becoming increasingly less accessible to many Americans: Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell last year to a nearly 30-year low for the second time in as many years, according to the Associated Press.
Elevated mortgage rates, a yearslong shortage of homes on the market, and record-high home prices continued to stymie prospective home shoppers, especially first-time buyers. That led existing home sales to fall 0.7% last year to 4.06 million — the weakest showing for home sales since 1995 and edging out the terrible year for sales in 2023, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.
Even in the midst of a sales slump, a dearth of homes on the market and rising mortgage rates gave sellers an edge over buyers, helping drive up the national median home price for all of last year to an all-time high $407,500, an increase of 4.7% from a year earlier.
The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage surged to a 23-year high of nearly 8% in October 2023 and briefly fell to a two-year low last September, but has been mostly hovering around 7%, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.
The buying power of Americans now facing higher costs to borrow money for homes that have soared in value has been significantly stunted. With so few homes up for sale, millions of would-be homebuyers have found themselves on the sidelines.
