Source: NY Times —
After a two-year boom, the United States housing market finds itself at a pivotal moment — but pivoting to what, exactly?
This spring should have been a busy time for home sellers. Instead, the season was a dud, stalled by a dramatic spike in mortgage rates that stunned even industry experts with its chilling effect on the market.
The frenzied environment we had become accustomed to — with its eye-popping price increases and bidding wars that left buyers dejected and sellers giddy — suddenly seemed to be a thing of the past. While buyers stood on the sidelines, recalculating their much larger mortgage payments, sellers began to realize that offers of $100,000 or more over asking might not be forthcoming.
