The other threat of housing to the economy

The Commerce Department’s gross domestic product report released Thursday will likely show that housing helped boost economic growth in the third quarter. This should not obscure the fact that the housing market is absolutely and horribly bad and the economy is worse off for it.

Last Thursday, the National Association of Realtors said 3.96 million existing or existing homes were sold in September at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. This figure is down from 4.68 million recorded a year earlier, and even lower than the levels reached just after the start of the pandemic. This is a symptom of the rapid rise in mortgage rates which, in addition to making access to housing much more difficult, has made people who already own homes reluctant to sell, as this would involve financing the purchase of their next accommodation at a very high cost. higher rates than they currently pay. The report shows there were just 1.13 million homes on the market last month, the lowest figure ever recorded for a September.