Today’s real estate market is a challenging one for buyers. While home prices have relaxed since their peak in the COVID-19 pandemic, the typical cost of a home in the U.S. has risen by more than 33% over the last three years. Mortgage rates today are at their highest levels in more than two decades. The impacts of high rent and inflation have made it harder for many would-be buyers to save up for home purchases.
Underlying all of these conditions is the simple fact that America has been slow to add new homes to its housing supply. A recent study estimated that the U.S. is short between 2.3 and 6.5 million housing units relative to the needs of the current population. One of the primary reasons is that many construction firms downsized or went out of business entirely during the Great Recession, leading to a long stretch of underbuilding.
The Gwinnett Daily Post is a daily newspaper published in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and serves as the county's legal organ. The newspaper is owned by Times-Journal Inc. and prints Wednesday and Sunday each week.