How it Started... How it's Going: Home sales down, housing prices, mortgage rates up since Biden took office

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In this video provided by METAoriginal to Fox News Digital, the Related Group’s Rivage property is shown through drone and life-like visuals.

Existing-home sales jumped unexpectedly in February to the highest monthly increase recorded in a year, according to the National Association of Realtors. 

Total existing-home sales – which includes previously owned single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – increased 9.5% from January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million in February. But sales are still down 3.3% from last year, when 4.53 million were recorded for February 2023, a NAR report released Thursday said.

«Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand,» said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. «Housing demand has been on a steady rise due to population and job growth, though the actual timing of purchases will be determined by prevailing mortgage rates and wider inventory choices.»

 A «For Sale» sign on March 19, 2024, in Austin, Texas. Home prices have surged 25% since President Biden took office in January 2021. (Brandon Bell / Getty Images)

While Americans may want to buy houses, scarce supply, inflated prices and high mortgage rates have made home ownership unaffordable for many. Housing inventory in 2022 dipped to its lowest point since the Federal Reserve began tracking the data in 2016, while housing costs reached record highs. 

AMERICANS ARE MAKING A MASS EXODUS FROM BIG CITIES ACCORDING TO CENSUS BUREAU DATA

A data table showing existing home sales, prices, mortgage rates and mortgage payments in January and February for the years 2019-2024. (Fox News / Fox News)

Home prices and associated costs have followed the same inflationary trend as the rest of the economy