Housing Market Update

As home prices continue to rise, buyers adopt new strategies.
Early May saw a continuation of home price growth—the median listing price grew by 15.8% over last year, marking the 21st week of double-digit gains. Combine that with higher mortgage rates, and affordability remains a huge challenge for many buyers.

One strategy buyers are implementing is making a larger down payment. This works well for buyers who have gained a lot of equity in their existing homes. First-time homebuyers, however, are struggling to find a home they can afford—and steep hikes in rent are making it difficult to save up.

The number of new and active listings is trending upward.
“After nearly three years of mortgage rates under 4%, a new reality has emerged for homebuyers," writes Joel Berner, senior economic research analyst for Realtor.com.

From mid-March to early May, mortgage rates increased rapidly. The national average for a 30-year fixed hit 4.16% the week of March 17, jumped to 4.42% the following week and continued an upward trend throughout April to reach 5.27% the week of May 5.

Mortgage rates have jumped above 5%.

Housing inventory is still very low compared to pre-pandemic times, but things are looking up. In the first week of May, new listings were up 4% from a year ago, and active listings grew year-over-year for the first time since 2019.