October’s declining inflation rate is welcome news for a housing market that’s been experiencing steady decline since 2022.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of REALTORS(r), told thousands of attendees at NAR NXT – The REALTOR(r) Experience(link is external). That inflation dropped last month is certainly good news for real estate, and might indicate lower mortgage rates in coming months.
On Thursday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 7.7% rate of inflation for October’s Consumer Price Index. Yun said this still caused pain at grocery stores and gas stations but may indicate mortgage rates have reached their maximum point; Yun pointed out the jump from about 3% at the start of 2018 to 7.0% today has had an adverse effect on home sales figures; they decreased 1.5% month over month and 23.8% year over year according to NAR existing home sales data for September.
