According to Freddie Mac, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.71 percent for the week ending June 8, down from 6.79 percent the week before.
That's not the end of the good news.
According to Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com®, in her recent analysis of the latest housing data, housing price growth, which has been spiraling upward since the COVID-19 pandemic, also "slowed to a standstill.
In fact, compared to the same week last year, the median listing price rose just 0.2 percent for the week ending June 3. This is the lowest level in the history of Realtor.com data, dating back to 2016.
However, despite this double dose of good news, Hale noted that "the cost of home ownership has not gone down." In fact, today's buyers with a 20 percent down payment will still pay about $280 more per month than they did last year.
Here's what our latest installment of "How's the Housing Market This Week?" in What do these statistics mean for homebuyers and sellers?
While home prices appear to have finally retreated, the median listing price is still high, at $441,000 in May.
High home prices coupled with high mortgage rates have forced many homebuyers to adjust their home buying priorities. For many, their only priority now seems to be finding a bargain.
"Affordability has evolved into an increasingly important factor that influences people's decision-making process when looking for a home," Hale said." To gain homeownership, more online shoppers are being drawn to more affordable markets than they were a year ago."
Affordability explains why markets in the relatively budget-friendly Northeast have been heating up recently, while markets in the South and West have been cooling. However, popular markets tend to drive up home prices, so it may only be a matter of time before the balance shifts.
Last month, median home prices in the Northeast rose by double digits compared to a year ago, while prices in the South and West saw low single-digit gains.
While many buyers have had success with scrapping deals, others have simply paused their searches until rates weaken.
"Concerns about high inflation, rising interest rates and escalating home prices have caused many potential buyers, especially more first-time buyers, to postpone their home buying plans," Hale said.
Home buyers aren't the only ones feeling discouraged. Home sellers have been retreating from the market as well, as the number of new homes on the market has fallen for 48 consecutive weeks. In the week ending June 3, new listings were down 25 percent compared to a year ago.
"Many people are still wary of listing their homes because it means swapping their low mortgage rates for higher rates," Hale said.
While new listings are down, the overall housing inventory - including new and older listings that have been languishing on the market - was 13 percent higher in the week ending June 3 than in the same week last year. However, even the overall inventory will soon be impacted unless more new listings enter the market soon.
"The continued decline in new listings has dampened the growth of active inventory," Hale said." And there is the potential for further deceleration in the next few weeks."
Homes still for sale continue to languish - languish. In the week ending June 3, homes were on the market 14 days longer than they were a year ago. This marks 46 consecutive weeks of homes selling for a longer period of time compared to the same week last year.
However, even though things are slowing down, homes still took about 43 days to sell in May, which is still faster than the average May from 2017 to 2019.
"Homes are still selling faster than the norm before the frenzy, underscoring the ongoing supply-demand imbalance," Hale said.
And that means that homeowners who decide to sell at affordable prices are likely to be greeted by a flood of buyers with offers.
Meanwhile, all those homebuyers looking for bargains both high and low may want to take another look at those stale listings and take a gamble that the low prices might actually work.
