NEW YORK, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. existing-home sales fell in 2024 to the lowest level since 1995, the second straight year of anemic sales due to stubbornly high mortgage rates, according to local media.

"High costs related to homeownership sapped sales again," reported The Wall Street Journal on Friday. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage has hovered between 6 percent and 8 percent since late 2022, making it prohibitively expensive for many Americans to buy homes at current prices, which hit record highs last year.

Rising home insurance and property tax costs are also adding to homeowners' expenses, it noted.

The housing market's outlook this year depends again on mortgage rates, said Rick Palacios Jr., director of research at John Burns Research & Consulting.

"The starting point for 2025 is, you're kind of already starting in a spot with not that much momentum," he said. "I don't really see how that thesis reverses and gets more optimistic as long as mortgage rates stay at 7 percent."

The Federal Reserve cut short-term rates three times last year, but mortgage rates have risen in recent months. Last week, mortgage rates topped 7 percent, an important psychological threshold for buyers and sellers, though rates declined slightly this week, according to Freddie Mac. Enditem

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