Existing home sales continue to chip away at the year-over-year deficit caused by last year’s declines, with sales growth in both single- and multi-family homes. The market no longer faces the climbing mortgage rates or poor stock market performance that helped set the stage for last year’s declines – and existing home sales are bouncing back slowly. We should start to see positive year-over-year growth in the second half of the year.
Even in the face of 4% monthly home-price growth, consumer confidence is strong and mortgage applications for home purchases continue to climb, although not at a pace you’d expect to accompany falling mortgage rates. Low rates can only do so much to offset still-rising home prices and a shortage of homes at the lower end of the market.