Well a new report from The Wall Street Journal says people are delaying Purchasing homes by years and instead Choosing to spend their money in other Ways the National Association of Realtors found existing home sales were Down more than 15% year-over-year in September so James Rodriguez is joining Us now from Studio 57 to talk a little Bit more about this he's a senior real Estate reporter with Insider so it's not Exactly shocking to me you know when I Read uh the article but let's let's dive Into the trends and we talked about it a Little bit earlier I figured there's Probably two things it has to do with Interest rates and the price of homes Yeah exactly so normally when you see Mortgage rates rise as they have over The past year and a half you'd expect Home prices to fall because you have Fewer buyers able to afford mortgages You have fewer buyers out in the market Fewer competition uh home prices go down Yeah that's not really what we've seen Over the past couple years across the Majority of the country really it's been A a story of home prices continuing to Rise or at least remaining steady and The reason is not only do you have fewer Buyers out in the market right now but You also o have fewer Sellers and They're looking out and they're saying Look if I sell my home I have to give up
This cushy mortgage rate that I have Right now might be you know below 3% or 4% and so that's just not really an Appealing proposition and so um you know You have seller staying put back in May I wrote about this and I called it the Housing Market's ice AG because uh you Know it just seems like it's kind of Suck in place right now and home prices Aren't falling the way I think that Maybe some uh consumers hope so you're Essentially saying that Supply isn't There and that's coupled with the demand Not really being there as well exactly It's a little bit of both yeah exactly So you know you have fewer buyers but Still a lot of competition the desire is There but they just can't act on that Desire because there are all these Things come in it's too expensive Basically right so but are we then Looking at a possibility of the damn Breaking and all of a sudden prices Coming down as people decide because two Things will either happen interest rates Will come down or people eventually will Say you know what I can always refinance And let me just get into the market now Could we see that or no well I think Eventually you can tell I'm trying to Buy a house I'm thinking about buying a House well you know eventually I think You will see you know people kind of get Used to this mortgage rate shock you saw
Over the past year and a half people are Just wondering you know when are we Going to see the peak should I just you Know they're kind of trying to sus out When they should actually make their Move I think people are kind of getting Used to the fact that mortgage rates are A little bit higher now they're not Going to go down to these historic lows That we saw during the pandemic and so You might see those Wheels start to turn More and I think uh you know especially Over the next year I think of eyes will Be on you know if mortgage rates fall Even a little bit you might see Transaction volume pick up just you know Based on the pure fact that I mean there To move there's always going to be People who need to move and just and so They have to pull the trigger and just Deal with the interest rates um but you Know when you have a situation like this People always tell you that real Estate's the best way to kind of make Money right to um enhance your net worth But there are other ways to do it too so Are people putting their money their Nest egg in something else instead yeah I think there's there's two facets to This I think on the investment side you Are seeing people you know evaluate and Just say look maybe it's not the best Idea to just put all of my money into This one asset it's not necessarily
Diversified you're kind of at the whim Of the local real estate market maybe It's better that I just you know invest In stocks or other uh you know options Out there I think that's something that People are trying to kind of work their Mind around because as you mentioned you Know you think of home buying as the Primary way of Building Wealth in America yeah um and then you know Consumer spending just across the board Has been remark Strong I think even despite all these Predictions of you know recessions and Consumer fears uh you know consumers are Still kind of blowing through their Savings they're spending on concert Tickets and uh I love this term Revenge Travel you know just uh traveling after The pandemic and so um you know Consumers are still getting out there And spending what about the notion that For many many years Americans were sold On this I sort of feel like propaganda That owning a house is the American Dream right it means you actually have Some skin in the game game um and people Are realizing now Ah that's not really The American dream I can either continue Renting or I can continue to just live a Life where I'm not beholden to anyone we We move around a lot more than we did 20 Or 30 years ago is is it still Considered the definition of success to
Say that you own your own home I think In a lot of people's minds it it still Is I look at surveys even of uh you know Millennials and geners now they still Have uh they still have really high Opinion of owning a home at least in Terms of the stability that offers the Kind of opportunity to build inter Intergenerational wealth as well I mean That's that's a big factor um but you we Do see that first-time home buyers are Delaying their purchases last year was a Record high of 36 years of age for the Typical first-time home buyer went down A little bit over the past year to 35 Years of age but um you know people are Still having to wait longer and maybe You have more people just deciding that It's not for them after all and um that They're better off for but can can I Just ask like like because we were Talking about this earlier too New York City is such a different Market than the Rest of the world and I guess what we See here on the East Coast even in Connecticut and Pennsylvania is perhaps Different than what they're seeing in Arkansas and in Michigan is that right Or is it is it across New York is a Bubble for sure that is unlike most Other places exactly so the trends are They the same trends that we're seeing Across the country we're also seeing Here on the East Coast I think you do
See different markets you have different Uh you know mindsets around home buying And and especially you know just across The board renting is so much more Affordable than buying a house right now You think of the typical monthly Mortgage payment is 52% higher right now For a new mortgage than it is for the Average uh monthly rent and so you know When you have to make that decision you Know you you're looking at um you know Especially in high dollar markets like New York right now where it it's just so Expensive to buy a home you have people Kind of just uh you know adapting to That environment and deciding look it's Just kind of out of the realm of Possibility most places and where can You make an investment and maybe in 5 Years make a 100 Grand on that and not More more than recoup like you know you Could double it if you make a good Purchase so that's why I think the American dream is still going to be part Of that is always going to be owning a Home because it's just it's the simplest Way to make a big chunk of money you Know yeah and I people saw that during The pandemic James Rodriguez thank you Very much friend always appreciate you Thank you
