The market is not clearing. Sellers are piling up and buyers are not taking their offered houses off the market.
Which is as clear as it gets before they actually fall, that prices will fall.
JasonC: “No, the real value is the price at which the market *clears* - meaning *every* seller finds a willing buyer.”
That’s exactly what I meant. The market value is whatever it sells for. If you can’t sell it, it isn’t necessarily worthless, but you are likely asking more than the house is worth.
I don’t know for sure how much unsold inventory is out there. From news reports, the crisis is bad. However, they hype things. Personally, I don’t see how it can cause that much grief for people who have owned their homes for several years, who aren’t in an inflated market, and who don’t need to move for several years. For those who purchased at market highs and now need to sell...that’s a different matter.