U.S. home sales never recovered after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates in 2022 at their fastest clip since at least the early 1980s, annual existing-home sales have remained at 30-year lows. Updated projections from Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association predict 2026 volumes landing at similar levels slightly above 4 million transactions.
Now the Fed stands poised to embark on another rate-hiking cycle to combat inflation, pushing any prospect of a meaningful sales recovery into 2028 or even 2029.
Economists and financial analysts have loudly debated the wisdom in the Fed’s decision last week to raise its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2023. Many agree, however, that bond marke...