Lockdown, quarantine and pandemic aren't usually buzzwords you hear when shopping for a house, but it seems to be the trend for the summer of 2020 according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The NAR released a report detailing a 14-year high in home sales in August thanks to current low mortgage rate promises and low interest rates on everything from student loans to credit cards. The NAR found that about 6 million homes were sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in August alone, giving it the award of the third straight month of house sales trending upward. But all of this buying in the housing market isn't all open floor plans and smiling photos.
Most new homeowners are already regretting their purchase, as their promised low mortgage rates keep getting bumped up due to low supply, according to survey data in Business Insider. And those looking for new homes are only going to find a tougher and more expensive housing market as those desperate for housing offer more than asking price. According to Bloomberg, a house-buying boom at this rate could cause the U.S. to run out of home inventory before the end of 2020.
While 30-year mortgage rates hit nine different record lows due to the pandemic, applications for mortgages went up by 22% from 2019. Along with the rise applications came a rise in housing prices. Just a 2% jump in appreciation in national house prices between May and July was the biggest jump since the early 90s.
Many are scrambling for houses on the market as people continue to hunker down thanks to the pandemic. And still more are holding off on selling their house out of uncertainty, either due to the pandemic itself, or side effects like employment, financial concerns, and health. According to Zillow (NASDAQ: ZG) economists, there are nearly 20% fewer houses for sale now than summer of 2019. The lack of supply and surge in demand for housing doesn't look good for the average American buyer.
As existing houses are being snapped up, there has been a record high of newly built houses to try to keep up with the demand, but a Redfin (NASDAQ: RDFN) analysis found that even this isn't helping. There simply is not enough houses being built to keep up with the demand.
This dramatic imbalance between buyers and houses will eventually do serious damage to the housing market. Either killing the chance to own homes for the average American as houses continue to skyrocket in appreciation, until the inevitable collapse because no one can afford to buy houses at their price points, or a high amount of foreclosures as homeowners find themselves unable to keep up with their ever-rising mortgages.