Expert: Slow housing market not necessarily sign of a bubble

(NewsNation) — JPMorgan Chase laid off hundreds of employees in its mortgage division, underscoring the wide-ranging impact of rising inflation and mortgage rates slowing down the housing market.

About half of those employees will be moved to another division.

Last month, sales of existing homes in the U.S. tumbled 3.4%, with the median housing prices topping $400,000. Mortgage rates are also on their way up, now sitting at nearly 6 percent.

While such indicators may spark concerns a bubble is about to burst, real estate expert and CEO of Lagoon Development Uri Man says home values are not dropping in many markets. The problem is, he says, is there’s not enough transactions.

“People are focused there being fewer homes sold every month, but that’s because there’s almost no inventory,” Man says.

“There really isn’t a bubble. When we had a bubble last time, it was because people could not afford to make mortgage payments. They were out of jobs. We have extremely high employment right now,” he said.

Watch the rest of the interview and his housing crisis analysis above.