High mortgage rates push home sales decline, tracking to hit Great Recession levels

Home sales numbers released Thursday offered a sobering mix of news: The number of existing homes sold fell to levels not seen since the fallout of the Great Recession. At the same time, prices remain stubbornly high amid the highest mortgage rates in 23 years.

The National Association of Realtors reported that in September existing home sales fell through the psychologically significant annual rate of 4 million homes sold. The median price last month ticked up to $394,300 – a 2.8% increase from 2022 but a 3.1% decline from August.

Also Thursday, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told members of the Economic Club of New York Luncheon that no one should expect interest rate cuts in the near future: "While the path is likely to be bumpy and take some time, my colleagues and I are united in our commitment to bringing inflation down sustainably to 2%."

Since 2000, annualized home sales figures averaged about 5.3 million each month. Only eight other months – all following the 2007-08 financial crisis – registered lower sales than September, including July 2010 which fell to the low watermark of 3.45 million.

Unable to view our graphics. Click here to see them.

The number of homes sold has been tumbling since 2022 when the Fed announced its plans to raise interest rates in an effort to tame 40-year high inflation. Mortgage rates have more than doubled since and, in turn, increased monthly payments for new homeowners.

The contraction in the housing market hasn't been as pronounced in every region or every price point, but all have seen declines since 2022.

No hike next month?Fed Chair signals central bank could hold interest rates steady

Where the most homes were sold in September

Nearly half the homes sold in the U.S. were sold in the South in September. Homes selling for between $250,000 and $500,000 represented the majority of purchases, but even that category was down 15.5% from the year before. Sales of homes between $100,000 and $250,000 fell the most: 23.4% from September 2022.

Why home sales are continuing to fall

Housing experts have speculated in recent months that handful of issues have kept prices high and deterred would-be purchasers. Among them:

• Elevated prices. September's median sales price of $394,300 is among the top 10 months since 2000 and, of the bunch, it's the only fall month – when prices tend to ebb.
• Tight inventories: There's a 3.4-month supply of houses on the market based on the current sales pace. A better balanced home market between buyers and sellers would have a 4- to 5-month supply.
• High mortgage rates: Homeowners who took advantage of historically low mortgage rates in recent years are not interested in taking on new mortgages, which might be more than double their current rates.

Freddie Mac reported on Thursday that the average 30-year mortgage rates are now 7.63%, which appeared to deter some first-time buyers in September, according to the NAR report. Cash sales jumped from 22% last year to 29% in September, while first-time buyers, the next biggest group, fell by 2%.

Will interest rates continue to move higher?

Powell and other Fed presidents continue to say in speeches throughout the week that we shouldn't expect a reduction in interest rates any time soon. That said, 98% of investors who bet on the movements of interest rates expect the Fed will hold interest rates steady following its next meeting on Nov. 1, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

"Inflation is still too high, and a few months of good data are only the beginning of what it will take to build confidence that inflation is moving down sustainably toward our goal," Powell said Thursday in his prepared statement.

Powell said he and other members of the Fed recognize the tightrope their walking: "Doing too little could allow above-target inflation to become entrenched and ultimately require monetary policy to wring more persistent inflation from the economy at a high cost to employment. Doing too much could also do unnecessary harm to the economy."

Contributing: The Associated Press