The median monthly housing payment for U.S. homebuyers rose to a record $2,775 during the four-week period ending April 14, up 11% year over year, according to a Redfin report.
The recent hotter-than-expected inflation reading sent mortgage rates upward. On Thursday, HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center showed the average 30-year fixed rate for conventional loans at 7.31%, up from 7.19% a week earlier.
Additionally, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made statements at the Washington Forum on Tuesday that indicate there will be no rate cuts anytime soon because the economy and the labor market continue to run hot and inflation has remained sticky.
Furthermore, the median price for all types of existing homes rose to $393,500 in March, an increase of 4.8% from the median price of $375,300 in the same month last year, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Despite the challenging housing market, demand isn’t fading. Mortgage applications, for instance, increased for the second week in a row on the back of a strong economy.
According to Chen Zhao, Redfin’s economic research lead, some house hunters are eager to buy now as they fear a further increase in mortgage rates. Meanwhile, others have grown accustomed to elevated rates and have accordingly factored the inflated rates into their home purchase budget.
“Home sales are slower than usual, but there are still people buying and selling because if not now, when?” Connie Durnal, a Redfin Premier agent in Dallas, said in a news release. “I’ve had a few prospective buyers touring homes for the last several years, since mortgage rates started going up, and they wish they would have bought last year because prices and rates are even higher now.
“My advice to them: If you can afford to and you find a house you love, buy now. There’s no guarantee that rates will come down soon.”
At the end of March, NAR reported that total housing inventory sat at 1.11 million units, up 4.7% from February and up 14.4% from one year ago.
Where is the mention about median INCOME? Please put some balance to this kind of story and discuss AFFORDABILITY not just price. The slant here is that price is more expensive than ever, but how does that relate to what the “median” household can afford relative to this historical context?