Housing Costs Keep Rising as Sellers Outnumber Buyers by 63%

People nationwide have been voicing frustration over the rising cost of housing. That includes not only maintenance and repairs, but also the basic expense of owning a home, which the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development say has reached a record high.

According to the findings, homeowners are now spending more than $2,100 a month on mortgage-related costs, including taxes, insurance, mortgage payments and utilities. That is up 3.5 percent from the same period a year earlier, Scripps News reported.

The data also showed that new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 676,000 in September. That was down 0.6 percent from 680,000 in the prior month and 5.3 percent below the comparable period a year earlier, when sales were 714,000.

Redfin data showed sellers outnumbered buyers by 63 percent, marking the widest gap in at least a decade.

Home Prices Also Moved Higher

The median monthly cost of owning a home with a mortgage hit a new record high of more than $2,100. That’s up 3.5% from last year. Read more in link in bio. https://t.co/iZm66vZ4JP

— Scripps News (@scrippsnews)

The report also found that home prices continued to rise, with the median price reaching $400,400. That was 3.9 percent above the previous month’s level and 3.9 percent below the same point a year earlier.

Redfin said the imbalance is not entirely negative for buyers. With sellers outnumbering buyers, those looking for a home may have more room to negotiate than they have in years, possibly the most since the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis. Buyers in some Southern metro areas, including Miami, Nashville and Houston, appear to have the strongest leverage.

Other Costs Are Rising, Too

Higher mortgage payments often force households to trim spending elsewhere. According to Forbes, some buyers are cutting nonessential purchases, while others are relying more heavily on credit. With interest rates still elevated, borrowing has become more expensive and the strain has intensified.

Experts who spoke with Money.com said the situation may persist for some time.

“Average prices as measured by CPI are up about 30 percent since 2019,” Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY Parthenon, told the outlet. “Consumers shouldn’t expect prices to return to where they were before the inflation surge, as that would likely require a significant economic downturn and sustained deflation; inflation should cool over time, but that simply means prices rising more slowly, not falling.”