By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: Can 2024 sales top 2023? Clock's tickingSo far, the pace of home sales has been slower this year, but the fall bump in pending sales could translate to a December rally — if mortgage rates drop. Lisa SturtevantDecember 3, 2024
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: Can we predict where mortgage rates are headed? A range of competing factors are driving volatility in rates, making it harder to forecast their direction — but they're likely to decline further this year.Lisa SturtevantOctober 16, 2024
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: The housing deficit, and how to fix itHousing issues have made their way into presidential politics, but federal policies are unlikely to make a dent in the undersupply in the short-term.Lisa SturtevantSeptember 23, 2024
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: Why 'rent vs buy' misses the big pictureLists and calculators can be a starting point for prospective buyers weighing their options, but the decision to purchase a home is based on more than data.Lisa SturtevantAugust 28, 2024
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: Is prime shopping season about to hit?The pendulum is swinging in buyers' favor this fall. See which three trends could finally give them some leverage. Jeff TuckerAugust 20, 2024
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: Why are home prices still rising?High mortgage rates, which increase the cost of buying, should push prices down — right? But the relationship between rates and home prices isn’t that simple.Lisa SturtevantJuly 17, 2024
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: Why is inflation so sticky?It’s all about housing, which has an outsized effect on the Consumer Price Index — and is contributing to the Fed’s lack of action on interest rates.Lisa SturtevantJune 19, 2024
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: The mortgage rate 'lock-in' effectRates have gone up considerably in the past few years, but is the fear of losing a low-rate mortgage really keeping homeowners from selling?Lisa SturtevantMay 15, 2024
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: 3 factors that could affect summer home salesGet answers to the big questions on everyone's mind: What will happen with inventory and mortgage rates — and will the NAR settlement impact the market?Lisa SturtevantApril 17, 2024
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: Why 2023 mortgage rate predictions missed the markA year ago, many economists forecast that rates would fall within the 5-6% range by the end of 2023, but the economy didn’t behave as expected.Matthew GardnerNovember 30, 2023
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: Where is inventory headed? What housing starts revealNew construction homes and multifamily housing are on different tracks. Here’s why that matters, and what’s coming in the next year.Nancy Vanden HoutenSeptember 2, 2023
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: Don't expect price drops... yetA correction doesn't seem likely this year, but things could improve in 2024 if mortgage rates settle around 5%, says economist Matthew Gardner.Matthew GardnerJuly 21, 2023
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: Fair Housing At 55Expanding homeownership remains a crucial task, says Dr. Lisa Sturtevant, as the White-Black homeownership gap is even wider now than it was in 1970.Lisa SturtevantApril 28, 2023
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: Low interest rates were a blessing and a curseBuyers might long for pandemic-era mortgage rates, but economist Matthew Gardner cautions that the "bad & the ugly" impacts outweighed the good ones.Matthew GardnerApril 24, 2023
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: Have mortgage rates peaked?Zillow Chief Economist Skylar Olsen looks at the state of mortgage rates and ways agents can help buyers and sellers in this rebalancing cycle.Skylar OlsenFebruary 8, 2023
By the NumbersHousing Market Decoded: 6 housing stats to watchHousing data is everywhere, and keeping up with the stream of new information can be challenging. Dr. Paul Bishop highlights a few key data points to follow.Paul BishopDecember 29, 2022