Waterfront Market

Lake Martin seems to be a haven in the middle of a storm. According to an article in Aug. 11, 2024’s, The Wall Street Journal (digital version “Baby Boomers had it bad, Millennials have it worse”), housing affordability is at its lowest level since September 1985. The combination of high interest rates and rising prices has raised the cost of ownership, causing a significant downturn in the sale of real estate on a national level.

According to recent data from the National Association of Realtors®, the number of annual existing home sales has fallen to 3.89 million units from the 2020 peak of 6.6 million units when interest rates were at roughly 3.25 percent compared to 6.45 percent as I write this article. Other factors are affecting this trend, such as low inventory, but clearly a drop of nearly 3 million sales annually is a troubling statistic. Stormy weather, for sure.