Housing Market Shrek-ed! Is Your Dream Home Now a Swamp?

Wake Up and Smell the Swamp! (The Market's a Bit Stinky)

Hey everybody! Donkey here reporting live from… well not exactly 'live' 'cause I'm writing this but you get the picture! Anyway I gotta tell ya this spring housing market is lookin' a little… swampy. Like Shrek's swamp after a week of Fiona's onion cooking contest swampy! Apparently sales of old houses (not like REALLY old like from the Stone Age or somethin') are down 5.9% from February. That's like almost 6 whole percent! What's goin' on? Are people finally realizing that livin' in a gingerbread house isn't all it's cracked up to be?

Mortgage Rates? More Like Mort GAGE Your Whole Life Away!

Turns out it's all about the moolah. Those pesky mortgage rates are higher than Dragon's fiery breath! People are scared to commit to a loan when they feel like they are trading all they have for a house. And you know what that means? Less economic mobility which is a fancy way of saying people don't have the freedom to choose where they can live due to monetary constraints I think.

Listings Galore! More Houses Than I Have Jokes (Almost)

But here's the kicker! There are MORE houses for sale now! Like nearly 20% more than last year! It's like everyone's tryin' to get outta Dodge… or you know Duloc. But nobody's buyin'! It's a buyer's market. But not really because it's still hard to afford these houses so maybe it's no one's market! I'm getting confused and it's really cramping my style!

Pricey Pads! Are We Talkin' Royal Castle Territory?

And the prices! Whew! The average house sold for over $400,000 in March! That's a LOT of waffles! It's an all time high. But it's only 2.7% up from last March. So things are cooling down a little I think.

First Time Buyers? More Like First Time Dreamers!

So who's actually buyin' these places? Well first time buyers are still out there makin' up about 32% of the market. But historically it's roughly 40% which means the dream is slowly dying. But if you believe hard enough dreams come true!

Household Wealth Is Soaring!?

Okay so the chief economist at NAR Lawrence Yun says household wealth in real estate is at $52 trillion! That's bigger than the Gingerbread Man's ego! But what does that really mean? I dunno. I'm just a donkey. But it sounds impressive! So keep your chin up buttercups! Maybe things will start lookin' up soon. And if not well there's always the swamp. It's got character!