“Although buyers, sellers, and builders are all more optimistic about the housing market, asking home price growth is easing and the typical home sales price is slipping. These point to the nudge that buyers need to act on their improving outlook,” said Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale.

“Homebuyer affordability eroded further in April, with both the typical borrower monthly payment and median purchase amount rising due to higher rates and home prices,” said Edward Seiler, MBA's Associate VP, Housing Economics, and Executive Director, Research Institute for Housing America.

Sellers gave up the most in pandemic-era boomtowns, with Tampa, Florida reporting a bigger year-over-year growth in seller concessions than in any other metropolitan area.

“Though mortgage rates are substantially higher than they have been on average over the past decade, from an historic perspective rates are about average,” Freddie Mac said.

Rising mortgage rates are costing new 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars in costs over the lifetime of a loan. Click through to find out what that means for new buyers.

“Elevated mortgage rates are preventing would-be buyers from buying and would-be sellers from selling. And because sellers aren’t selling, the buyers who are out there have very limited options,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.

“First-time homebuyers are active and those entering the market have an edge as sellers are negotiating more and giving buyers a chance,” said RE/MAX President and CEO Nick Bailey.

“There are select data available to support several alternative views of the path of the economy, though we maintain our view that a modest recession will begin in the second half of 2023,” said Doug Duncan, SVP and Chief Economist at Fannie Mae.

"Home sales … remain above recent cyclical lows," said National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, who noted that economic factors were creating “an environment of push-pull housing demand.”

“Lack of existing inventory continues to drive buyers to new construction,” said National Association of Home Builders Chief Economist Robert Dietz.