Buying a home has never been more financially out of reach than it is now.
Despite mortgage rates hovering around 7%, US home prices remain high as supply-and-demand imbalances intensify competition among potential buyers.
First-time homebuyers, largely consisting of millennials and Gen Zers, are really getting a raw deal.
That's because starter homes are disappearing from the market as homeowners with low, locked-in monthly payments refrain from listing their homes for sale, and homebuilders focus on more lucrative projects.
It means the few that are making their way to the market are priced way higher than they once were.
Coupled with slower wage growth and a cooling labor market, it has become even more difficult for first-time buyers to break into homeownership.
"The most affordable homes for sale are no longer affordable to people with lower budgets due to the combination of rising prices and rising rates," Sheharyar Bokhari, a senior economist at Redfin, said in a statement. "That's locking many Americans out of the housing market altogether, preventing them from building equity and ultimately building lasting wealth."
Here's the state of starter homes right now.