Prices going up in half of the country and sales going down everywhere is the general takeaway from new housing numbers released by the National Association of Realtors.
Existing home sales fell 3.4% from a year earlier, and although the median home price dropped 1.7%, half of the country — mostly the Midwest and the Northeast — saw increases.
According to Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the NAR, the state of the market can be blamed on a combination of factors, including "job gains, limited inventory and fluctuating mortgage rates over the last several months" which "have created an environment of push-pull housing demand."
Home re-sales have fallen 23% compared to April of last year.
Low supply and high prices are continuing to make housing unaffordable for many Americans, including renters.
SEE MORE: Study: Americans think it's the worst time ever to buy a house
According to U.S. Census data, 19 million renters — that's more than 40% of all renters — are rent-burdened, meaning households spend 30% or more of their monthly income on rent.
A recent Gallup survey shows that more than half of Americans are feeling pessimistic about the housing market. The last two years are the only time since 1978 that Gallup has seen a trend in which less than half of the U.S. felt positively about the housing market.
According to Bankrate, the national average for a 30-year home loan is 6.9%. That's compared to 2.96% back in May of 2021. As a result, last month, the Federal Housing Administration added an option for current homeowners with a mortgage to get a 40-year loan on a new home to help lower payments and avoid foreclosure.
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