Like many economic metrics, the journey toward stabilizing the U.S. housing market is fraught with challenges. Although there has been a modest recovery in home sales and inventories from last year's lows, elevated mortgage rates continue to hamper affordability, deterring many potential buyers.
According to a recent survey by national property broker Redfin, almost 58% of U.S. homeowners feel they probably couldn't afford to repurchase their current homes at today's prices and mortgage rates.
In 2023, total commercial real estate mortgage borrowing and lending was estimated at $429 billion, marking a 47 percent decline from $816 billion in 2022, and a 52 percent fall from the record high of $891 billion in 2021.
In March 2024, housing starts declined by 14.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.32 million units, influenced by higher-than-anticipated interest rates and persistent inflation, as reported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.