The State of the U.S. Housing Market

Writing in The Washington Post, Conor Sen describes the current U.S. housing market and what its state means for homebuyers and sellers.

“A lack of supply has stabilized a market where affordability remains challenging. Homeowners with low mortgage rates have chosen not to sell, putting builders of new houses in a stronger position than they had anticipated last autumn when interest rates were surging and the market slowed.”

Accordingly, “Single-family housing starts have risen. Healing supply chains have shortened the time to build homes, meaning the ramp up in construction that’s underway should put more completed homes on the market by the first half of 2024.”

In the multifamily market, a record number of units are under construction. “While the for-sale and for-rent markets aren’t completely fungible, more rental units will give homeowners looking to downsize options.”

Sen concludes that “It’s going to take years to build enough to bring the housing market back into balance, but for the first time in a while there are reasons to think we’re moving in the right direction.”