The Daily Money: Dream of owning a home remains elusive for many

Happy Fri-yay, Daily Money readers! Hope you have some fun plans for the weekend. This is Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy bringing you today’s top headlines.

The dream of owning a home remains elusive to many potential homebuyers -- particularly first-time buyers -- as mortgage rates approaching 8% and low inventory keep affordability out of reach.

Not surprisingly, existing-home sales fell in September. They slipped 2% from last month and 15% from a year earlier, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors released Thursday.

The median sales price for existing homes, meanwhile, dropped to $394,300 in September from $404,100 in August. However, it rose 2.8% above the price from a year earlier, marking the fourth consecutive year-over-year increase.

“The Federal Reserve simply cannot keep raising interest rates in light of softening inflation and weakening job gains,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

Mortgage rates averaged 7.63% for a 30-year conventional loan this week, according to data released Thursday by Freddie Mac.

“In this environment, it’s important that borrowers shop around with multiple lenders for the best mortgage rate," advises Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

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