in a world of higher borrowing costs. Homeowners have been tempted to stay locked into low-rate mortgages, leaving them reluctant to sell, following the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest-rates increases over the past 15 months in a bid to cool inflation. instead of existing ones.
"Housing's performance is a testimony to the strength of demographic-related demand in the face of Baby Boomers aging in place and Gen-Xers locking in historically low rates, both of which have helped keep housing supply at historically low levels," Fannie Mae's chief economist Doug Duncan said. "Homebuilders continue to add to that supply, but years of meager homebuilding over the past business cycle means the imbalance will likely continue for some time," he added.