State of the housing market: April 2023

The housing market is at a turning point as house prices are down from their peak in June 2022. Even though prices have gone up since last month, growth in recent months has been slowing. Economists can’t agree on how long the current correction will last – some predict through the summer and possibly into 2024, while others think prices and activity will ramp back up soon for the usually busy spring season.

More people are asking themselves if now is the right time to buy a home, but with average 30-year mortgage interest rates hovering in the 6-7% range, the rental market may be a safe bet for prospective homebuyers and investors.

Other buying and renting market highlights include the following:

• According to Realtor.com, the national median list price grew from $415,000 in February to $424,000 in March.
  
  
• The site also reports a 12% increase in newly listed homes, from 312,196 in February to 349,284 in March. Is this the start of the previously mentioned spring rebound?

• According to data from Zumper, the national median rent for one-bedrooms increased by 0.2% from February to $1,495 in March. At $1,833, two-bedroom median rent increased by 0.5%.
  
  
• The Q4 2022 national rental vacancy rate of 5.7% is not significantly different from the rate in Q2 (5.6%) or Q3 (6.0%). Similarly, the 0.8% homeowner vacancy rate remains in line with the past ten quarters.

• Single-family housing starts in March were at a rate of 861,000, up 2.7% from the revised February figure of 838,000.

• The National Association of Home Builders reports a builder sentiment index of reports a builder sentiment index of 45, up one point from the previous month. Optimism in the market for newly-built single-family homes has been slowly but steadily on the rise since January.

More housing headlines

Hispanic homeownership rate rose to 48.6% in 2022 – HousingWire

Wall Street bets on better days ahead for US homebuilders – The Washington Post

Absentee owners are crowding the housing market, data shows – NBC News