WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Both first-time home buyers and renters are hoping the housing market starts to cool down in 2023.
"I feel like we're being kicked under the rug," Diane Thomas told WPTV.
Thomas has been living in her car for six months.
"This is right now my home. I stay in my vehicle because of the price of the rent that went up," she told WPTV. "I've been looking and looking, but the prices that they want for a one-bedroom, it's way out of my range. I can't afford it."
So, for now, she's stuck because rent prices aren't coming down and buying a home is out of reach.
"I would love to buy something, but the housing market is so expensive right now," Thomas said. "With the rent prices, I might as well try to purchase something and pay for a mortgage. … It's really, really expensive to even purchase a home right now."
Credit repair specialist Paul Oster, of credit repair firm Better Qualified, said the cost of buying a home has now hit a 10-year high.
"It's kind of a double-sided coin. I think prices are certainly going to start to come down, but I think interest rates are going to continue to rise. I mean, we might be 7-plus before you know it," Oster said. "I certainly see a pause, but I don't see a pivot until the mid- or latter part of this year and maybe not at all. You know, we really have to cool inflation if we want to get out of this with as little damage as possible."
Until then, people like Thomas are left searching for help.
"My big problem is, where's the help for us at, you know? I don't know where it's at," Thomas said. "I'm not the only one. I speak for many, many people that's going through this right now."
Thomas told WPTV she's applied for housing assistance programs through Palm Beach County and still hasn't heard back.
"It's embarrassing," Thomas said.