Eye On Housing
Improvements in affordability expectations have led to an increase in the share of prospective buyers who have moved beyond just the planning phase of their home search: 56% report being actively engaged in the purchase process in the first quarter of 2023, up from 46% a quarter earlier. The share of prospective buyers actively searching for a home rose in… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘housing affordability’
Housing Affordability Expectations Improve
Relatively lower interest rates (compared to fall 2022), slowing growth in home prices, and builder incentives are making an impact on buyers’ affordability expectations. In the first quarter of 2023, 73% of buyers reported being able to afford less than half the homes for-sale in their markets, down from a record high of 87% in the final quarter of 2022. … Read More ›
Housing Affordability Hits Record Low but Turning Point Lies Ahead
Mirroring a steep rise in mortgage rates that began in the early part of 2022 and coupled with ongoing building material supply chain bottlenecks that increased construction costs, housing affordability posted three consecutive quarterly declines in 2022 and now stands at its lowest level since the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) began tracking it on a consistent basis in… Read More ›
Housing Affordability Goes South
Buyers’ outlook for housing affordability took a sharp negative turn in the final quarter of 2022, when a record high of 87% reported being able to afford fewer than 50% of the homes for-sale in their markets. The remaining 13% can afford the majority of homes available, less than half the 31% who could in the third quarter. Affordability expectations… Read More ›
Concrete Prices, Volatility Continue Torrid Pace as Lumber Normalizes
The prices of building materials decreased 0.3% in November (not seasonally adjusted) following 0.5% and 0.1% declines in September and October, respectively, according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report. The index has decreased five of six months for the first time since 2015. The PPI for goods inputs to residential construction, including energy, fell 0.8% in November. The index… Read More ›
Unsurprisingly, Housing Affordability Continues to Fall
Rising mortgage rates, high inflation, ongoing building material supply chain disruptions, and elevated home prices contributed to housing affordability falling – yet again – to its lowest point since the Great Recession in the third quarter of 2022. According to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), just 42.2% of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of July… Read More ›
Share of Young Adults Living with Parents Declined in 2021
Spurred by elevated savings early in the pandemic and encouraged by lower interest rates, rising numbers of young adults left parental homes in 2021. As a result, the share of young adults ages 25-34 living with parents or parents-in-law declined and now stands at 20.2%, according to NAHB’s analysis of the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Sample… Read More ›
Housing Affordability Falls to Lowest Level Since Great Recession
Rising mortgage rates, high inflation, low existing inventory and elevated home prices contributed to housing affordability falling to its lowest point since the Great Recession in the second quarter of 2022. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), just 42.8% of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of April and end… Read More ›
Higher Rates Reduce Mortgage Demand
Per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) survey through the week ending July 1, total mortgage activity decreased, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) rate reaching 5.8% on average. The latest week’s rate decreased to 5.74%, declining for the second straight week but still above pandemic levels. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased by 5.4%… Read More ›
Latest Interest Rates Signal Significant Declines in Affordability
Housing affordability in the first quarter of 2022 looks starkly different depending on the interest rate assumed in the calculation. The average mortgage interest rate for the quarter was 3.86%. But by the end of April, it was 5.11%. If the former is used, then housing affordability shows a modest gain in the first three months of the year, driven… Read More ›