Eye On Housing
Following a sharp decline in March, existing home sales, released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), continued to fell in April despite lower interest rates and a strong labor market. Total existing home sales, including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, declined 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million in April. On a year-over-year basis, sales were… Read More ›
In the first quarter of 2019, 13% of adults reported plans to purchase a home within a year. That is just slightly below where the share stood a year earlier, at 17%. The decline marks the second consecutive year-over-year drop in the share of adults planning to buy a home, providing further evidence that the deterioration in affordability is having… Read More ›
Rising home prices and interest rates pushed housing affordability to a 10-year low in the second quarter of 2018, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 57.1 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of April and end of June were affordable to families earning the U.S. median… Read More ›
Rising home prices offset a quarter-point drop in mortgage interest rates to move housing affordability slightly lower in the second quarter of 2017, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 59.4 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of April and end of June were affordable to families… Read More ›
Homeownership is a key housing and economic measure of social conditions. Due to the housing downturn, the national homeownership rate declined precipitously, and has failed to recover to its historical norm. In fact, the homeownership rate reached a 50 year low in the second quarter of 2016 and has only edged up slightly since then, rising to 63.5% at the… Read More ›
Shortages of buildable lots and skilled labor, along with excessive regulations, rising mortgage interest rates and ongoing home price appreciation pushed housing affordability in the fourth quarter of 2016 to its lowest point since the third quarter of 2008, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 59.9 percent of new and existing… Read More ›
Spurred by a modest reduction in mortgage interest rates and favorable home prices, nationwide housing affordability in the first quarter of 2016 posted a slight increase, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 65.0 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of January and end of March were affordable… Read More ›
With the end of 2014 approaching, NAHB’s Eye on Housing is reviewing the posts that attracted the most readers over the last year. In August, we published an update to our affordability pyramid. —————————– By Natalia Siniavskaia With the release of the 2014 Priced Out estimates, NAHB Economics revised its affordability pyramid that translates U.S. household income data into a distribution of homes that households… Read More ›
Housing affordability dipped slightly in the second quarter of 2014 as several markets saw a firming of home prices, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). Nationwide, the second quarter HOI was 62.6—i.e., 62.6 percent of new and existing homes sold during the quarter were affordable to a family earning the U.S. median income of $63,900—down about three percentage points from the first… Read More ›
Using a sample of Fannie Mae loans, a recent academic study finds evidence that owners of apartment buildings with certain sustainability features are less likely to default on their mortgages. The article produces a number of other results that also may be of interest. The article was authored by Gary Pivo, of the University of Arizona, and published in the… Read More ›