Housing expert warns pre-pandemic affordability levels may never return in America

For years, home buyers have been told the housing market would eventually "normalize" — meaning if mortgage rates came down or inventory improved, affordability would return to something resembling pre-pandemic levels such as 2019.

But new data from Realtor.com suggests that version of the market may never come back, and returning to pre-pandemic affordability would require outcomes economists say are extremely unlikely.

The numbers underscore a tougher reality for buyers, one expert points out...