House of Cards

All this weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth is so 1980's. Back then, about the start of the decade, the notional mortgage rate peaked (in recent memory, of course). While some econ/finance professionals still contend that selling price and interest rate aren't inversely correlated, every where one looks, they are. The reason is simple: neither number matters much; what matters is the monthly nut of the average mortgage seeker. And that number is fixed in the short term by... income. So, if a builder or current mortgage holder wants to move a house, comps don't matter. What matters is median income of the slice of the market being targeted. And that means the bank and the builder are stuck. The monthly nut is out of their control.

The easiest way to generate large capital gains on a dwelling is to buy when interest rate is peaking. If you can, of course. Once the rate regresses to the mean, assessed value will climb just because the nut will always, and I mean always, be slurped up by the bank and the builder. Nothing left on the table. When the bank can't impose its will on Mr. Market, the builder will instantly up the selling price. Absolutely no reason to leave even a crumb of the nut on the table.