The U.S. home sales continued their downward trajectory in May as surging mortgage rates and rising prices show no signs of going away. According to a recent National Association of Realtors report, sales dropped 3.4 percent to settle at 5.41 million units. This represents the lowest mark since the adjusted annual rate of 4.77 million units two years ago.
The latest numbers represent a sharp decline compared to the 6.49 million units in January 2022. However, according to experts, this still doesn’t indicate that the home market is in any type of trouble.
“The market is far from weak,” Conrad DeQuadros, senior economic advisor at finance broker Brean Capital, told Yahoo Finance. “It will likely take some time for the full impact of monetary adjustment to feed through.”
Last week, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped by 55 basis points, which marked the biggest one-week surge since 1987. The current average of 5.78 percent is the highest it has been since 2008, but experts predict mortgage rates breaking the six percent barrier very soon.
Prices have also continued to climb despite the weaker demand. The National Association of Realtors says that the national median price currently stands at $407,600, representing a 15 percent increase compared to the same period in 2021. This represents a record and the first time that the national median price topped $400K.