The housing market is at a standstill as sellers aren’t listing and buyers are pulling back due to high mortgage rates. But there’s one group in an advantageous position, one economist says.
““What happened over the last three years was stunning, and in some ways, was a bit like winning the lottery.”” The “luckiest” seller is the one who is downsizing, especially those who are able to buy a smaller home without any debt, she added. — National Association of Realtors Baby boomers could be keeping prices and demand high in some markets. “Maybe that’s what’s driving Miami home values,” she said. Miami home prices in July increased by 1.9% year-over-year, nearly twice the 1% increase nationally over that same period, according to the Case-Shiller index.
Older homeowners are more likely to have paid off their mortgage. Among households that own their home free and clear, 78% are over the age of 55, according to 2021 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.Yet the market dynamics do not offer homeowners across ages and the nation the same opportunity to cash in on their apparent windfall.
Even though prices are falling in some parts of the U.S., such as in Austin, Boise, and Phoenix, homes in those cities are not exactly cheap, Olsen noted. Prices in those cities also rose during the pandemic, and they are now stabilizing due to the pullback in inventory, she said.