The US Housing Market Is Stabilizing, but Regional Markets Are Still Skewed
Among the 29 major housing forecast models, 24 predicted a national home price decline for 2023, but four months into the year, that scenario hasn’t come to fruition. Instead, the housing market is showing signs of stabilization. Existing and new-home sales are inching higher, home builder confidence has improved, borrowing costs are falling from peak highs, and major firms such as Zillow, CoreLogic, and Black Knight have all reported positive month-over-month home price increases this spring, Fortune reports.
But the housing market isn’t back to normal just yet. Regional markets are still significantly skewed, with homebuying destinations such as Scranton, Pa., booming and places like San Jose, Calif., caught in correction mode.
What’s going on? For starters, housing affordability has improved this spring as the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate, which topped out at 7.37% in November, came back down to around 6.5%. Additionally, a lack of homes for sale, coupled with the market entering its busier spring period, has—at least for now—pushed the national housing market back into equilibrium.
That said, under the hood, the housing market isn’t exactly normal just yet: Some housing markets are booming right now (including Scranton) while other places (including San Jose) are still passing through a home price correction. And even within a particular market, it can vary a lot.