2024 Sales of American houses reach the lowest level in almost 30 years with the property increasingly out of reach

Los Angeles (AP) – The latest evidence that ownership is becoming more and less accessible to many Americans: sales of previously occupied American houses fell last year to a hollow of almost 30 years for the second time in as many years.

High mortgage ratea shortage of houses on the market and high -level house prices continued to thwart potential house buyers, in particular the first buyers.

This led sales of existing houses to a drop of 0.7% last year to 4.06 million – the lowest demonstration for sales of houses since 1995 and has made the end of the terrible year for sales In 2023, the National Association of Realtors said on Friday.

Even in the midst of a sales crisis, a shortage of houses on the market and the rise in mortgage rates gave the sellers an advantage over buyers, helping to increase the median national price for the whole year at a record level From $ 407,500, an increase, an increase of 4.7% compared to the previous year.

“How is it possible that house sales can be so low, since the American population has increased by more than 70 million during this period from 1995 to today?” asked Lawrence Yun, the chief economist of NAR. “We can partly answer this question because of the question of affordability. The prices of high houses, mortgage rates that have increased, but also the lack of inventory. »»

The US housing market was in a sales crisis dating from 2022, when mortgage rates began to set up hollows in the pandemic era. The average rate on a 30 -year mortgage increased to a 23 -year higher by almost 8% in October 2023 and fell briefly at a 2 -year hollow last September, but was mainly hovering about 7%, According to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.

The purchasing power of Americans is now faced with higher costs to borrow money for houses that have climbed in value have been considerably slowed down. With so few houses on sale, millions of potential buyers have been on the sidelines.

At the end of December, there were only 1.15 million houses on the market, said Nar. Although this increased by 16.2% compared to the previous year, the inventory remained much lower than the annual historical average of approximately 1.98 million, according to data which dates back to 1999.

The inventory available at the end of last month amounts to an offer of 3.3 months, including the current sale rate. In a more balanced market between buyers and sellers, there is an offer of 4 to 6 months.

“This means that the problems on the American housing market continue to worsen in terms of availability of houses for sale and upward pressure on the prices of houses,” wrote Eugenio Aleman, chief economist of Raymond James, in a research note.

Many factors have contributed to the shortage of housing, in particular more than a decade of construction of new houses less than the average and owners hanging on their properties longer. And while President Donald Trump has increased housing supply one of his electoral campaign platforms, there are no quick solutions.

“Over the past decade, the United States has had an average of around 5.2 million house sales per year,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS. “It will take years before we are back at this level, perhaps not even before the 2030s. The absence of inventory is the key constraint. »»

A sharp drop in the mortgage rate has strengthened the purchasing power of Americans in 2020 and 2021. Although many economists predict that the average rate of a mortgage of 30 years will be facilitated this year, they do not generally expect that it falls below 6%, there is about twice what it was five years ago.

When mortgage rates facilitate ease, they can encourage house buyers. A decline in last fall rates helped home sales increase monthly in the last three months of the year.

Home sales in December increased by 2.2% compared to the previous month on a seasonal adjusted basis at an annual rate of 4.24 million, said NAR. This exceeded 4.2 million rhythm forecasts by analysts interviewed by FostSet. Sales increased by 9.3% in December compared to the same month of last year.

The median selling price of houses increased for the 18th consecutive month in December to $ 404,000, up 6% compared to the previous year.

The limited inventory, in particular in the more affordable price range of a given market, helps to increase prices. This is one of the reasons why many house buyers for the first time, who have no venture capital to devote to their deposit, continue to fight.

They represented 31% of all houses sold last month, against 30% in November and 29% in December 2023. However, the annual share of new buyers was 24%. This is 40% historically.