For the week ending Sept. 15, fixed rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 6.02 percent, more than double what they were a year ago. For the first time since late 2008, the average mortgage rate broke the 6 percent mark.
As interest rates soar, it puts downward pressure on home prices, but inventory remains low.
New listings in the U.S. fell 8 percent in August to the lowest level since May 2020.
Mortgage rates climbed from 5 percent in early August to 6 percent at the end of the month, pushing many homebuyers out of the market.
The sharp drop in demand gave remaining buyers some capital to negotiate with sellers and prices began to ease, but it also caused many potential sellers to pause their listings.
In California, where the housing market is hot, home sales picked up slightly in August from July, and the statewide median home price rose 0.7 percent from July
But home sales across the state still fell 14.9 percent from the beginning of the year to August.
The slowdown in housing market sales does not mean that the housing market is showing signs of a bubble burst.
The job market remains very strong, so the risk of a significant rise in mortgage delinquencies or foreclosures is very small.
The ongoing supply-demand imbalance in the U.S. housing market and high interest rates will continue to increase the burden on potential buyers, while also putting pressure on renters.
The national average rent rises to nearly $2,500 in the first half of 2022.
California rents remain the most expensive in the nation, with the average monthly rent in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Anaheim at $4,664; San Diego and Carlsbad at $4,617.
In addition, median rents in San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, San Francisco and Oakland in Northern California, and Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Ventura in Southern California all exceeded $4,000 per month.
Median rents in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Florida are also expensive, averaging $3,972 per month.
As for the states with the cheapest rents in the nation, most of them are located in industrial areas of the Midwest.
For example, Ohio, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Michigan and Illinois.
The average monthly rent in Youngstown and Warren, Ohio is only $861.
