Practice has shown that real estate prices reach their highest prices with strong demand from buyers. After the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, however, the market turned around and an example of this is what happened in the US housing market last year.
For the past 30 years, 2024 was the year with the fewest transactions in the secondary housing market. There are two main factors for this - high prices and expensive mortgage loans, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). 4.06 million sales were made.
The average sale price is 6% higher in 2024 than in 2023, reaching $404,400. In the middle of last year - in June, it was $397,954, or 5% more than in June 2023, according to NAR.
As for interest rates on housing loans, buyers will most likely face levels of 6.5% to 7%.
The monthly mortgage payment is over $2,700 at the above-mentioned mortgage rates and average home price.
In the first quarter of the current year, the number of transactions is expected to decrease compared to the last quarter of 2024, analysts predict. They believe that access to secondary market housing will become much more affordable only in 2030. Goldman Sachs predicts a "slow decline in affordability to normal levels".