The story of the 2024 housing market has been one of a nation frozen in place, with millions of people unable to move amid rising home prices, stubbornly high mortgage rates and a drastic shortage of inventory. The year is on track to have the slowest housing market in three decades, with a projected four million home sales, according to the National Association of Realtors — making 2024 the second straight year of historically anemic sales. The last time sales dipped that low was in 1995, when the U.S. population was 22 percent smaller than it is today… The depths of the housing slump surprised even economists, who had predicted that by spring, mortgage rates would fall enough to pull sales out of last year’s doldrums. Instead, inflation remained stubborn, driving up interest rates. [A free account is needed to read this article]