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- The median monthly mortgage payment hit an all-time high of $2,632 in the four weeks up to September 10, Redfin said.
- Mortgage rates are hovering near two-decade highs, above 7%.
- Home prices, meanwhile, are up 4% compared to one year ago.
The housing market has never before been this expensive.
A new Redfin report showed the median monthly mortgage payment hit an all-time high of $2,632 in the four weeks to September 10. That's up 14% compared to one year ago.
That's as mortgage rates are still hovering near a two-decade high, hitting 7.25% this week for the 30-year fixed rate.
At the same time, the median home sale price is up 3.9% year over year to reach $376,250 in the four weeks to September 10.
Typically when rates increase, prices decline. But that hasn't happened in the current market, and economists point to low home inventory as the main culprit behind the affordability crisis.
Weekly active listings of homes for sale declined 17% year over year in the four-week rolling average up to September 10, and new listings fell 7.1%, according to Redfin.
Years of under-building have contributed to a massive housing shortage that's kept many would-be buyers sidelined.
Throw in the prospect of leaving a sub-3% mortgage for something closer to 7%, and the idea of moving grows more daunting. Roughly one-quarter of homeowners secured a rate below 3% prior to the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes, close to the highest on record.
While the central bank is widely expected to keep rates steady at its policy meeting next week, investors have started to weigh rising odds that another rate increase could come later this year.
For the November 1 meeting, markets give about 34% odds of a quarter-point hike, which could mean higher mortgage rates.