Marketing Tools Slower household growth and cash-poor Generation Xers will dampen the housing market nationwide More than 10,000 existing homes change hands every day in America. Others are tiny prefabs. Whatever their size, home sales and home prices are sensitive to interest rates and the strength of the local economy where the home is for sale. A big layoff depresses housing prices in the immediate vicinity.
Job growth increases demand and prices.
Housing by definition is a local business. But it is also subject to outside forces. Two nationwide trends will impact the general level of prices in the coming years. The first involves the number of households in the housing market. In order to buy a bigger or more lavish house, most people have to be able to sell the one they are in.