For the past 9 years after 2008 financial crisis, US has lost 9M construction jobs.  It also bankrupted a lot of real estate developers.  Now, the economy has somewhat recovered and people confidence has come back.  The trouble is that there are not many houses in the market for sell.  The supply is short since the builders have not built enough homes for the demand due to the effect of the crisis.  Right now, it is a seller's market.  The mortgage rates went up a bit, but they are not near normal rates.  The normal mortgage rate for 30 years should be around 6 to 7%.  If we have a good economy, we will see the rate at that level.