Doh! Housing Market Takes a Dive! Blame It on Those Dang Mortgage Rates!

Marge the Market's Gone Sour!

Marge! The housing market's gone sour like that milk I accidentally left out for three weeks! Turns out these 'mortgage rates' are higher than my bar tab at Moe's! And the economy? Well let's just say it's about as stable as I am on a ladder after a six pack. Sales of previously owned homes? Down! Like my chances of winning the lottery. According to those fancy pants Realtors sales are down 5.9% since February. Doh!

Worst March Since... Before I Discovered Donuts!

This is the slowest March since 2009! That's like before I even knew donuts could bring me such joy! Apparently all regions are suffering but the West is getting hit harder than Bart after I catch him spray painting my car. But get this Marge! The West is doing better than last year because of some job growth in the Rocky Mountains. It's like a roller coaster but instead of fun you get financial anxiety!

Yun's the Man With the Plan (or at Least the Stats)

Some brainiac named Lawrence Yun (not to be confused with 'yellow' which is the color of my favorite Simpsons) says that "Home buying and selling remained sluggish in March due to the affordability challenges associated with high mortgage rates." Well duh! It's like saying beer is expensive when you're broke! But he also said something about less economic mobility. Sounds serious Marge! Maybe we should invest in a monorail.

More Houses Than Donuts (Almost)!

Get this Marge there are more houses for sale! Like a buffet of houses! There are 1.33 million units for sale an increase of nearly 20% from last March. Sounds like a lot right? But it's only a 4 month supply. Experts say we need a 6 month supply for a balanced market. What do they know? Maybe they should try balancing a donut on their head!

Prices are High But Not As High As My Cholesterol!

The median price of a house is $403,700! Holy guacamole that's a lot of money! It's an all time high for March but only up 2.7% from last year. That's like getting a slightly bigger donut for the same price! Not complaining but still... And get this Marge real estate is worth like $52 trillion! 'Each percentage point gain in home prices adds more than $500 billion to the household balance sheet.' That's more money than Mr. Burns has! (Probably.)

Doh! It's Gonna Get Worse!

Oh boy it sounds like it's gonna get even worse than Milhouse’s bad luck streak. Some guy named Robert Frick (no relation to Frick and Frack I presume) says the March numbers are bad but 'they're likely to get worse!' Apparently prices for home furnishings are gonna go up because of 'tariffs' whatever those are and people are getting anxious about inflation and jobs. Sounds like a recipe for disaster! Time to stock up on Duff and hide under the couch! Marge where's my donut?