Last year, the sales of completed homes hit a 15-year high and may slow down in 2022

In 2021, the sales of existing homes reached the highest point in 15 years, but the market may slow down in 2022.

According to Realdeal and the Wall Street Journal, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sold off-to-market homes rose 8.5 percent in 2021 to a 15-year high of 6.12 million units. Low interest rates and extensive remote working were some of the factors driving sales growth last year.

The hot market is accompanied by the problem of matching supply and demand, pushing up prices. According to NAR, the median price of a single home increased to a record $346,900 in 2021, up 16.9% year-over-year.

The market slowdown in late December was due to a significantly low inventory. According to the Wall Street Journal, NAR reported that existing home sales fell 4.6% month-on-month in December, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.18 million units. December decreased by 7.1% year-on-year.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, said: "Buyers are there, but insufficient inventory is holding back some sales activities. ”

Experts believe the NAR reported only 910,000 homes for sale at the end of December, the lowest level since the association began tracking inventory in 1999. Housing supply on the market at the end of the year was 1.8 months, a record low, with inventories down 18% from November and down 14.2% year-on-year.

Developers trying to close the gap between supply and demand are in full swing. From November to December, new home starts rose 1.4 percent and residential permits jumped 9.1 percent. But labor shortages and supply chain problems continue to jeopardize the construction industry.

Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow, predicts that home sales activity will be "unusually crazy" in the first quarter of 2022. However, the market is likely to slow later in 2022 due to insufficient inventories and rising interest rates. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that mortgage rates had reached their highest level since March 2020.

Compile: V