TRD’s Amir Korangy on US housing market: “Now we’re facing a sort of perfect storm”

Korangy said rise in mortgages and interest rates, combined with tariff increases have contributed to a home buying slowdown

The Real Deal publisher Amir Korangy appeared on Fox Business’ Varney & Co. to discuss the state of the U.S. housing market and where it’s heading in 2019.

Rising mortgages rates and a jump in construction costs have led to a recent slowdown,  after years of strong demand and growing prices.

“We’ve had mortgages historically low, we’ve had inventory at three decades lows, we’ve had millennials being the largest pool of homebuyers,” Korangy said, speaking to Charles Payne on Wednesday. “But now we’re facing a sort of perfect storm… we have interest rates going up… and then you have tariffs and commodities prices going up.” Stagnant wages have also played a role in the overall slowdown, along with a pullback in foreign investment.

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Korangy added that rising construction costs and tariffs have had an impact on foreign investment in the housing market, which has dropped off significantly from years past.

With mortgage rates expected to continue to rise, some experts worry that growing mortgage payments could push even more potential home buyers out of the market in 2019.

Watch Korangy’s interview above. [Fox Business] – Keith Larsen