Today’s U.S. housing market is a study in contradictions. After a stretch of strong and often frenetic activity by buyers during the pandemic period, sales have been in a slump. Housing inventory, which was in acutely short supply before the pandemic, is slowly starting to become a bit more bountiful.
But home prices have continued to rise and mortgage rates have soared this year. As a result, affordable homeownership opportunities remain an elusive commodity.
According to data released on July 20 by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing home sales dropped for the fifth straight month in June to 5.12 million, a 5.4 percent decline from the previous month and a 14.2 percent drop from one year earlier. The median existing-home price for all housing types in June was $416,000, up 13.4 percent from the $366,900 level in June 2021—this marked 124 consecutive months of year-over-year increases and a new record….