Spring is usually considered a hot time for real estate sales in the US: new buyers and sellers enter the market. But this year the situation is different: the number of signed contracts for the purchase of housing has become the lowest since the lockdown in 2020. UNN writes about this with reference to Bloomberg.
According to seasonally adjusted data from Redfin Corp, the number of signed contracts was the lowest for a month since the Covid quarantine in 2020. The number of transactions decreased by 3% compared to April last year, which is already considered a low figure.
At the same time, the number of houses put up for sale, on the contrary, increased - to the highest level since 2019. At the same time, despite the greater supply, prices are hardly growing: on average, the increase was only 1.4% per year, while last year it was about 6%.
High mortgage rates have made housing less affordable, so, as the publication says, there has been no spring revival in the market.
Additional uncertainty is created by fluctuations in the stock market and economic factors, in particular the consequences of Donald Trump's trade policy. As a result, neither buyers nor sellers are in a hurry, the publication notes.
However, the situation depends on the region. For example, in the northeast and midwest of the United States, there is a small number of offers for the sale of housing. The leader in price growth was the Newark agglomeration (New Jersey), where housing rose in price by 13%. In Cleveland, prices rose by almost 12%, and in Milwaukee - by 9.7%.
But Florida is currently experiencing a decline. After an influx of buyers during the pandemic, demand has decreased significantly. In addition, the costs of insurance and housing maintenance have increased dramatically. Because of this, as the publication notes, developers are forced to lower prices, offer favorable mortgage terms and other bonuses.
A particularly noticeable drop was recorded in Miami: the number of signed contracts in April decreased there by 23% compared to last year — this is the largest reduction in the USA. A similar situation is observed in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Tampa.
