2022 marked the end of cheap mortgages and now the housing market has turned icy cold

December 26, 20225:13 AM

Children ride scooters past a house for sale in Los Angeles. Home sales have slowed as mortgage rates have climbed

Evan Paul and his wife entered 2022 thinking it would be the year they would finally buy a home

自進入2022年以來，埃文·保羅（Evan Paul）和他的妻子以為，今年他們終于能購買一個屬于自己的房屋。

The couple — both scientists in the biotech industry — were ready to put roots down in Boston.

"We just kind of got to that place in our lives where we were financially very stable, we wanted to start having kids and we wanted to just kind of settle down," says Paul, 34.

This year did bring them a baby girl, but that home they dreamed of never materialized.

這對夫妻都是生物科技行業(yè)的科學(xué)家，他們已準備在波士頓扎根。

34歲的保羅說：“我們只是在生活中找到了一個經(jīng)濟非常穩(wěn)定的地方，我們想開始有孩子，我們想定居下來?！?。

今年確實給他們帶來了一個女嬰，但他們夢想擁有自己的房屋卻從未現(xiàn)實。

High home prices were the initial insurmountable hurdle. When the Pauls first started their search, low interest rates at the time had unleashed a buying frenzy in Boston, and they were relentlessly outbid.

"There'd be, you know, two dozen other offers and they'd all be $100,000 over asking," says Paul. "Any any time we tried to wait until the weekend for an open house, it was gone before we could even look at it."

當保羅夫婦第一次開始找房,高房價成為了第一個不可逾越的鴻溝。當時低利率已經(jīng)在波士頓引發(fā)了一場購買狂潮，他們的出價也被無情地超過了。

保羅說：“你知道，那會有20個其他的報價，而且都會超過10萬美元。”?！懊棵?，我們想等到周末再去看房子，但還沒來得及看一眼就已被售出?！?/p>

Then came the Fed's persistent interest rates hikes. After a few months, with mortgage rates climbing, the Pauls could no longer afford the homes they'd been looking at.

"At first, we started lowering our expectations, looking for even smaller houses and even less ideal locations," says Paul, who eventually realized that the high mortgage rates were pricing his family out again.

"The anxiety just caught up to me and we just decided to call it quits and hold off."

緊隨著美聯(lián)儲持續(xù)加息。幾個月后，隨著貸款利率攀升，保羅夫婦再也買不起他們一直在看的房子。

保羅說：“一開始，我們降低預(yù)期，尋找更小的和地理位置差一些的房子。到了最后我們終于意識到高額的貸款利率再一次將我們踢出購房一列。

“我突然感到焦慮，我們決定退出并等待時機?！?/p>

Buyers and sellers put plans on ice

購房者和售房者都將計劃擱置

The sharp increase in mortgage rates has cast a chill on the housing market. Many buyers have paused their search; they can longer afford home prices they were considering a year ago. Sellers are also wary of listing their homes because of the high mortgage rates that would loom?over their next purchase.

"People are stuck," says Lawrence Yun, chief economist with the National Association of Realtors.

抵押貸款利率的急劇上升給房地產(chǎn)市場帶來了寒意。許多買家停下尋找房屋；他們再也負擔(dān)不起現(xiàn)在的房價。由于貸款利率很高。賣家也很謹慎的出售房屋，怕再次購買房屋將超過預(yù)期價格

全國房地產(chǎn)代理商協(xié)會（National Association of Realtors）首席經(jīng)濟學(xué)家勞倫斯·云（Lawrence Yun）表示：“人們陷入了困境?！?。

Yun and others describe the market as frozen, one in which home sales activity has?declined for 10 months straight, according to NAR. It's the longest streak of declines since the group started tracking sales in the late 1990s.

根據(jù)NAR（National Association of Realtor）的數(shù)據(jù)，云和其他人將市場描述為凍結(jié)，其中房屋銷售活動已經(jīng)連續(xù)10個月下降。這是該集團自上世紀90年代末開始跟蹤銷售以來最長的一次下滑痕跡。

"The sellers aren't putting their houses on the market and the buyers that are out there, certainly the power of their dollar has changed with rising interest rates, so there is a little bit of a standoff," says Susan Horowitz, a New Jersey-based real estate agent.

新澤西州的房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀人蘇珊·霍洛維茨（Susan Horowitz）表示：“賣家沒有把房子放到市場上，而買家在那里，他們的美元購買力肯定會隨著利率的上升而改變，所以有點僵持。

Interestingly, the standoff hasn't had much impact on prices.

有趣的是，僵局并未對價格產(chǎn)生太大影響。

Home prices have remained mostly high despite the slump in sales activity because inventory has remained low. The inventory of unsold existing homes?fell for a fourth consecutive month?in November to 1.14 million.

盡管銷售活動不景氣，但由于庫存仍然很低，房價基本保持在高位。11月，未售出現(xiàn)房庫存連續(xù)第四個月下降至114萬套

"Anything that comes on the market is the one salmon running up stream and every bear has just woken up from hibernation," says Horowitz.

霍洛維茨說：“市場上的任何東西都是一條向上游流動的鮭魚，每只熊都剛剛從冬眠中醒來?！?。

But even that trend is beginning to crack in some markets.

但即使是這樣的趨勢，在一些市場也開始出現(xiàn)裂痕。

At an open house for a charming starter home in Hollywood one recent weekend, agent Elijah Shin didn't see many people swing through like he did a year ago.

最近的一個周末，在好萊塢一個迷人的首發(fā)售房招待會上，經(jīng)紀人Elijah Shin沒有看到很多人像他一年前那樣搖擺不定。

"A year ago, this probably would've already sold," he says. "This home will sell, too. It's just going to take a little bit longer."

他說：“一年前，這可能已經(jīng)售出了。“這套房子也會賣的。只是需要更長的時間?！?/p>

Or a lot longer.

或者更長時間。

The cottage first went on the market back in August. Four months later, it's still waiting for an offer.

這座小屋于8月份首次上市。四個月后，它仍在等待報價

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