Not long after mortgage rates spiked this spring, the U.S. housing market slipped into what the industry likes to call a housing recession. It means housing activity levels, like home sales, are contracting sharply. That’s hardly surprising: History tells us an inflation-fighting Federal Reserve means a so-called housing recession is right around the corner.
While housing recessions are historically common, home price corrections are less common. That’s why housing bulls—just like they did in 2006—refused to acknowledge the possibility of falling home prices. But once again, they are wrong.
As data rolled in this summer, John Burns Real Estate Consulting provided data to Fortune showing that frothy markets like Boise and Phoenix had already gotten their home price tops blown-off. Now, it looks like that home price correction has moved beyond overheated Western housing markets.
Among the 148 major regional housing markets tracked by John Burns Real Estate Consulting, 98 markets have seen home values fall from their 2022 peaks. In 11 markets, the Burns Home Value Index* has already dropped by more than 5%. Simply put: The U.S. home price correction is sharper—and more widespread—than previously thought.