US Housing Market Posts $2.3 Trillion Drop, Biggest Since 2008

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Hat tip, Lauren Boebert, who claims this is yet another example of {something}

Wealth

US Housing Market Posts $2.3 Trillion Drop, Biggest Since 2008

San Francisco and New York are slumping as the pandemic boom fizzles out, but migration to Florida has boosted Miami.

By Paulina Cachero
February 22, 2023 at 4:16 PM EST

The value of the US housing market shrunk by the most since the 2008 as the pandemic boom fizzled out. ... After peaking at $47.7 trillion in June, the total value of US homes declined by $2.3 trillion, or 4.9%, in the second half of 2022, according to real estate brokerage Redfin. That’s the largest drop in percentage terms since the 2008 housing crisis, when home values slumped by 5.8% from June to December.

Homebuyers, already facing record-high prices, took an additional hit from mortgage rates that more than doubled last year. With less competition in the market, the median US home sale price was $383,249 last month, down from a peak of $433,133 in May.

“The housing market has shed some of its value, but most homeowners will still reap big rewards from the pandemic housing boom,” said Redfin economics research lead Chen Zhao, adding that the total value of homes remains roughly $13 trillion higher than it was in February 2020.

{snip a chart}

To be sure, home prices are not collapsing. In December, the total value of US houses was still 6.5% higher than it was a year earlier.

{snip}