US home sales fell sharply the last year since 2008 | Economie

Home sales in the US are under pressure due to large interest rate increases by the US central bank to control soaring inflation. As a result, mortgage interest rates are also rising, making homes less affordable for many people. As a result, December marked the 11th consecutive month with declining home sales.

Due to the lack of supply in the housing market, the current median home price has increased. This amount amounted to 366,900 dollars (338,423 euros) in December. This is 2.3 percent more than one year previously. Prices have increased in all regions of the United States. NAR expects sales to pick up again this year because mortgage rates are now weakening.

In December, sales fell 1.5 percent compared to November – analysts had expected them to fall 3.4 percent. In one year, that’s a 34 percent decrease. This is how NAR arrives at an “annualized” sale of 4.02 million homes in December. The figure, which is used for comparisons with other periods, represents the theoretical total sales over a year if the current development continues for 12 consecutive months.

In 2008, the US housing market was still in crisis. Banks were selling homeowner’s mortgage-linked debt securities in the United States on a large scale. These were often fake mortgages, loans given to people with little or no capital. When the housing market crashed sharply, these securities were not valuable anymore. This created a global financial crisis.