Home prices fell 0.24% from December to January, while the annual home price growth rate fell to 3.43% at the start of the year, but according to HousingWire, more upward pressure on 30-year rates could slow the annual home price growth rate to below 0% by March or April. Elevated mortgage rates are dampening buyer demand nationwide, but rather than listing their homes and refinancing, sellers are also pulling back from the for-sale market.
As a result, supply is dwindling, and that inventory shortage is sustaining high home prices even during a market correction.
“Today, we see buyer demand dampened under pressure from rising rates and their impact on affordability, with purchase rate-lock volumes cooling in late February,” Andy Walden, vice president of enterprise research strategy at Black Knight, said in a statement.
“We’ve seen a consistent theme of potential sellers – many with first-lien rates a full 3 percentage points below today’s offerings – pulling back from putting their homes on the market,” Walden said.
Advertisement
Related Stories
Townhomes
Townhome Construction Gains in Popularity as Buyers Seek Medium-Density Housing
Townhouses made up 18% of single-family housing starts during Q1 2024
Housing Markets
5 Housing Markets That Would See a Huge Increase in Homeownership if Mortgage Rates Dropped
Spokane, Wash., would experience an 11.4% increase in affordability if rates dropped to 6%
Housing Markets
Spring Housing Markets: Which Markets Saw the Most Appreciation, and Which Saw the Least?
Florida metros saw the weakest appreciation of all housing markets in the US