Higher mortgage rates aren’t just affecting buyers. Many current homeowners purchased or refinanced their homes in 2020 or 2021, when mortgage rates were several percentage points lower than today’s rates. And while those pandemic-era mortgages have been a blessing for many homeowners, they’ve also kept others from moving. Rather than give up their current mortgage rate for a higher rate and a more expensive monthly payment, some would-be sellers have chosen to put their moving plans on hold, further limiting the number of homes for sale and driving up home prices in the process.

Sales: Closed sales for Single-Family homes were down 7.9 percent to end the year. Condo homes closed sales were down 18.3 percent to end the year.

Listings: Comparing 2023 to the prior year, the number of homes available for sale for Single-Family homes was down by 2.4 percent, while Condo homes were up 48.7 percent.

Prices: Home prices were up compared to last year. Single Family home prices were up 1.4 percent compared to last year, and Condo home prices were up 8.7 percent.

Mortgage rates have been dropping in recent months, which should help bring buyers and sellers back to the market and could lead to an uptick in both home sales and housing supply. Affordability will still prove challenging for many homebuyers, however, and economists predict U.S. home sales will remain down compared to 2019 – 2022.

These statistics courtesy of Coastal Carolina Association of Realtors.