Squeeze - Renters - a Rock and Hard Place

When interest rates go up, and we have inflation - people can afford less. New listings are dropping their list prices for the first time consistently - Redfin reported that 21.2% of new listings dropped their price in the last month - the highest since 2019.

As new home buyers come online (fueling the next refinance opportunity) they are paying more as the average monthly payment goes up rapidly... why so rapid? Rates went up fast - housing prices are still coming down slow. One of the two will have to give = either rates come back down quickly, or housing prices will adjust down to 'catch up' to this disparity.

The alternative - a rock and a hard place. The renter can stay put as a renter, but those rates are going up as fast as the new house payments, the renter can't refinance to a lower rate in the future... their best bet is to lock in rental terms for as long as possible.