{"id":33076,"date":"2022-09-15T12:07:47","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T19:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=33076"},"modified":"2026-03-30T13:54:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:54:07","slug":"are-we-in-a-recession-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/are-we-in-a-recession-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019re Not Yet in a Recession in 2022 – Here\u2019s How We\u2019ll Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. housing market is undergoing a rebalancing. Visit <\/i>HomeLight’s 2022 Housing Trends Hub<\/i><\/a> for information on how to navigate a shifting market \u2014 whether you’re a seller, buyer, or homeowner.<\/i><\/p>\n

Ever since 2021\u2019s record home prices<\/a>, Americans have been waiting for that too-good-to-last bubble to burst. Although the housing market still ran hot at the beginning of 2022<\/a>, higher grocery prices<\/a>, fewer home sales<\/a>, and other factors from summer to fall made economists and armchair analysts wonder: Are we in a recession<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Not quite, although those anxieties are understandable. Here, we\u2019ve looked at several expert analyses to help you get a better understanding of what a recession is, what causes a recession, and what signs show whether we\u2019re in a recession in 2022 \u2014 or approaching one.<\/p>\n

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What is a recession?<\/h2>\n

The general macroeconomic definition<\/a> of a recession is \u201ctwo or more consecutive quarters of a negative growth rate of gross domestic product,\u201d or GDP<\/a>. That\u2019s the total value of everything the United States produces, as measured by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis<\/a>. The GDP dropped 0.6% in the second quarter of 2022<\/a> after falling 1.6% in the first quarter of 2022, data shows.<\/p>\n

However, the National Bureau of Economic Research<\/a> (NBER) of Cambridge, Massachusetts, a private, nonpartisan organization of nearly 1,700 economists that analyze major economic issues, defines a recession<\/a> as \u201ca significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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How Much Is Your Home Worth Now?<\/h3>\n

Get a near-instant home value estimate from HomeLight for free. Our tool analyzes the records of recently sold homes near you, your home\u2019s last sale price, and other market trends to provide a preliminary range of value in under two minutes.<\/p>\n \n

\n Get Estimate<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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What causes a recession?<\/h2>\n

A recession starts at the peak of a business cycle<\/a> and ends at the trough, the NBER says. Several factors can cause a recession, according to the investment and savings app Acorns<\/a>, which has over 11 million users. These include<\/a>:<\/p>\n