Source: MarketWatch —
Even as mortgage rates continue their upward climb (see the lowest rates you can qualify for here), home prices have continued to rise. And one big factor in those rising home prices is that America is currently facing a real estate inventory shortage. Between supply chain issues and material shortages, the United States is short more than 3 million homes, according to data from Freddie Mac, which isn’t helped by the speed bumps in building and low number of existing homes on the market. “If something is scarce, buyers have no choice but to offer more for it,” Bankrate analyst Jeff Ostrowski says of the reason home prices keep hitting records.