Home prices grew by 19.4% annually in the second quarter of 2022, Fannie Mae reports, which remains at a near-record high. Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae's chief economist, says in a news release that price growth remains strong due to low housing inventory — although he does expect appreciation will moderate in the future as rising rates put a damper on homebuying demand. The housing inventory shortage is a complicated problem to solve, since it's driven by longstanding underproduction. National housing production is lagging by 3.79 million units, according to a new study from Up for Growth, an advocacy group focusing on increasing housing supply and affordability. Housing underproduction is a problem in 47 states and the District of Columbia, with 169 metro areas lacking sufficient housing. The crunch is felt the worst in California, with a lack of 978,000 houses that need to be built. It's also prominent in other Western states, like Oregon, Washington, Utah and Colorado.