How Much Buyers Will Shell Out on a Home?
Bad news if you’re in the market to buy a home: Even though a construction boom is increasing the housing supply nationwide, the median cost of an existing home remains significantly higher than last year. As of April, the median price of an existing home has risen by 5.7% year over year to $407,600, according to a recent report from Zillow.
According to Apartment Therapy, although the exact numbers differ, the reports both point to a real problem for would-be buyers — the high cost of housing and stubbornly high interest rates (April 2024 represented an all-time high weekly average mortgage rate, and as of May 23, the weekly average mortgage rate was 7.02%) — are making the housing market unaffordable for many people.
The numbers don’t lie: Zillow’s report says that in April, existing home sales fell by 1.9%, while Redfin says that pending home sales were down 4.2% year over year as of May 19.
But will home prices stay this high forever? And what about mortgage rates? Is there any hope on the horizon?
There is, but it’s not coming tomorrow.
