“Some buyers are hoping they can get a home for under asking price to make up for high interest rates because they’re hearing the housing market is slow. But what’s happening nationally isn’t necessarily true [locally],” said Kristin Sanchez, a Redfin Premier Agent.

"A greater relative share of first-time buyers is filling the gap, and they're competing against each other for the limited number of affordable starter homes on the market," said Zillow Senior Population Scientist Manny Garcia.

By conservative estimates, up to 1 million multifamily homes are in the pipeline to be completed soon, giving those who are locked-out of the purchase market other options to live.

“There’s a fair amount of demand for lower-priced single-family homes, which in this area means around $400,000 and under,” said Redfin Premier Agent Brynn Rea.

"The inventory situation is unique—we are seeing it differ across the country depending on what area, but demand for housing is still strong. As rates stabilize, consumers' confidence should strengthen, helping boost market activity," says Nick Bailey, President and CEO of RE/MAX LLC.

“Volume picked up during the spring homebuying season and additional personnel were shed. However, the substantial cost savings per loan was not enough to put the average net production income in the black,” said Marina Walsh, CMB, MBA’s VP of Industry Analysis.

“U.S. housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.452 million, which is 3.9% above the downward revised June estimate of 1.398 million and is 5.9% above the July 2022 rate of 1.371 million,” First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi said.

Typically, teachers can only afford a few homes near their home school, a number which keeps dwindling as time goes on, according to the latest data from Redfin.

“Tons of homeowners scored an incredible deal during the pandemic: a 3% mortgage rate for the remainder of their 30-year loan … this means buyers who are in the market now are duking it out for a very small pool of homes, preventing home values from plunging,” said Redfin Economics Research Lead Chen Zhao.

Boom-bust markets include Phoenix and Austin, Texas. House prices increased 65% from February 2020 to the peak in May of 2022 for both markets, but have since declined by 9.5%