The recession mainly affects the housing market, as recent data on decreased home starts and sales, combined with rising mortgage rates, point to a slowdown.
However, it doesn’t always follow that the industry is experiencing a downturn like it did during the Great Financial Crisis.
The National Association of Realtors used the exact phrase on Thursday. According to Lawrence Yun of the National Association of Realtors,
“Builders are not building,” and sales have decreased for six months, indicating that economic activity has slowed.
Houses are still being sold To be clear, that does not indicate that the larger housing market is experiencing a breakdown.
According to Christine Cooper, chief U.S. economist and managing director of CoStar Group, homes are still selling
Cooper told MarketWatch that while the data may appear “gloomy,” “to a significant part, the slowing in the market reflects a reversion to a more balanced market.”
Given that wages have not kept up with inflation, she said, it was about time that sales would decline. And costs aren’t going through the roof.
The market is challenging for both homebuyers and sellers, Yun told MarketWatch in a follow-up email. But when home values rise, homeowners continue to amass housing wealth.
Even if purchasers may be pulling back, there are still plenty of houses on the market and good-quality buyers.
According to Jen Holland, an agent with ERA Key Realty in Massachusetts, the first response is for individuals to do nothing.
Some of her customers have walked away from deals because they were uneasy or wanted to wait for pricing or interest rates to go down.