Elevated mortgage rates are set to keep sellers of previously owned homes out of the market heading into next year, but sales will “bottom out” in early 2024, Fannie Mae said this week, before a rebound the following year.
Mortgage rates hovered near 8 percent as recently as October, the highest level it has hit since the turn of the millennium, which has scared used homeowners from selling their homes as many prefer to stay in lower rates secured in years past. This “lock in effect,” as Fannie Mae analysts describe it, has added to a depleted supply of homes available for buyers and helped push up prices.
