Nationally, existing home sales recently dropped to a 6-month low, falling 7.2% as buyers struggled to find a home amid rising prices and historic low inventory. Pending sales are also down, declining 4.1% as of last measure, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Builders are working hard to ramp up production—the U.S. Census Bureau reports housing starts are up 22.3% compared to a year ago—but higher construction costs and increasing sales prices continue to hamper new home sales, despite high demand for additional supply.
• Single Family Closed Sales were down 18.2 percent to 5,717.
• Townhouse-Condo Closed Sales were down 16.5 percent to 2,063.
• Adult Communities Closed Sales were up 2.3 percent to 673.
• Single Family Median Sales Price increased 8.6 percent to $440,000.
• Townhouse-Condo Median Sales Price increased 7.7 percent to $334,990.
• Adult Communities Median Sales Price increased 21.6 percent to $310,000.
Across the country, consumers are feeling the bite of inflation and surging mortgage interest rates, which recently hit 4.6% in March, according to Freddie Mac, rising 1.4 percent since January and the highest rate in more than 3 years. Monthly payments have increased significantly compared to this time last year and as housing affordability declines, an increasing number of would-be homebuyers are turning to the rental market, only to face similar challenges as rental prices skyrocket and vacancy rates remain at near-record low.