Home prices at record high/Consumers said 'jobs hard to get' at highest in 2 1/2 yrs/More contraction in mfr'g

That first time home buyer got no relief in September in terms of getting a break on home prices according to S&P CoreLogic as prices rose another .7% m/o/m and by 3.9% y/o/y. Their home price index from December 2019 thru September is up 47% and now buyers have the curse of not just paying this high price but to do so with a 7.5% mortgage rate if they can’t pay in cash.

To state again, the only reason why the new home sale median price was down yesterday was mostly mix as there was a drop in the number of homes priced above $500,000 relative to those priced below which in turn lowers the median. Builders are certainly discounting but that has not led to any drop in existing home prices. At some point, home prices I would think would drop as buyers pause in response to sticker shock but the stubbornness of the continued rise has certainly surprised me, notwithstanding the lack of supply. Those who own homes, about 65% of households, of course don’t want prices to fall but we need the first time home buyer in the market to create a more fluid supply/demand dynamic and one that doesn’t choke them financially.