Source: Fox Business —
The end may finally be in sight for a prolonged slump in the U.S. housing market, according to Goldman Sachs strategists.
Analysts at the Wall Street bank said in a note this week that falling mortgage rates are likely to stop the dramatic decline in home prices “by mid-year.” They see prices falling around 6% from their peak before bottoming out sometime in the next six months.
“The sharpest declines for the U.S. housing market are now behind us,” the strategists, led by Goldman chief economist Jan Hatzius, said in the note.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, home prices soared at a pace not seen since the 1970s with mortgage rates near a record low. Homebuyers – flush with stimulus cash and eager for more space during the pandemic – flocked to the suburbs; demand was so strong, and inventory so low, at the height of the market that some buyers waived home inspections and appraisals or paid hundreds of thousands over asking price.
