Number of existing homes sold in the U.S. 1995-2023, with a forecast until 2025

The number of U.S. home sales in the United States declined in 2023, after soaring in 2021.  A total of four million transactions of existing homes, including single-family, condo, and co-ops, were completed in 2023, down from 6.12 million in 2021. According to the forecast, the housing market is forecast to head for recovery in the next two years, with the number of sales reaching 5.6 million in 2025.Why have home sales declined?The housing boom during the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that being a homeowner is still an integral part of the American dream. Nevertheless, sentiment declined in the second half of 2022 and Americans across all generations agreed that the time was not right to buy a home. A combination of factors has led to house prices rocketing, making homeownership unaffordable for the average buyer. A survey among owners and renters found that the high home prices and unfavorable economic conditions were the two main barriers to making a home purchase. People who would like to purchase their own home need to save up a deposit, have a good credit score, and a steady and sufficient income to be approved for a mortgage. In 2022, mortgage rates experienced the most aggressive increase in history, making the total cost of homeownership substantially higher. Only 15 percent of U.S. renters could afford to become homeowners and in metros with highly competitive housing markets such as Los Angeles, CA, and Urban Honolulu, HI, this share was below five percent. Are U.S. home prices expected to fall?The median sales price of existing homes stood at 387,000 U.S. dollars in 2023 and was forecast to increase slightly until 2025. The development of the S&P/Case Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index shows that home prices experienced seven consecutive months of decline between June 2022 and January 2023, but this trend reversed in the following months. Despite mild fluctuations throughout the year, home prices in many metros are forecast to continue to grow, albeit at a much slower rate.

2023年，美国房地产市场在经历了2021年的激增后出现下滑。2023年，包括单户住宅、公寓和合作社在内的存量房交易总量达到四百万笔，较2021年的612万笔有所下降。据预测，在未来两年内，房地产市场有望实现复苏，到2025年销售额将达到560万笔。为何住宅销售出现下滑？新冠疫情期间的房地产热潮表明，成为房主仍然是美国梦的核心组成部分。然而，2022年下半年情绪有所下降，各年龄段的美国民众普遍认为现在并非购房良机。一系列因素导致房价飙升，使得普通购房者难以负担。一项针对业主和租房者的调查显示，高房价和不利的经济条件是购房的主要障碍。希望购房的人士需要积攒首付、拥有良好的信用评分以及稳定的充足收入才能获得按揭贷款资格。2022年，按揭利率经历了历史上最激进的上涨，使得购房的总成本大幅增加。只有15%的美国租房者能够负担得起成为房主，在洛杉矶、加利福尼亚州和檀香山等竞争激烈的住房市场城市，这一比例甚至低于5%。美国房价预计会下跌吗？2023年，现有住宅的中位销售价格为38.7万美元，预计将略有上升直至2025年。S&P/Case-Shiller美国全国房价指数的发展表明，房价在2022年6月至2023年1月间连续七个月出现下滑，但在随后的月份中这一趋势发生了逆转。尽管全年波动轻微，但许多大城市的房价预计将继续增长，尽管增长速度将大大减慢。