Eye On Housing
An earlier post revealed that 67% of buyers who were actively engaged in the process of finding a home in the final quarter of 2021 have spent 3+ months searching for a home without success. The inability to find a home they could afford once again became the most common reason (41%) these long-time searchers could not buy a home. … Read More ›
The share of prospective buyers actively trying to find a home fell in both the third (57%) and fourth quarters (52%) of 2021, after reaching a series high of 61% in the second quarter of the year. The downward trend demonstrates how falling levels of housing affordability have discouraged a growing share of potential home buyers from actively engaging in… Read More ›
According to the latest Housing Trends Report, home buyers’ affordability expectations deteriorated throughout 2021. By the fourth quarter, the share of buyers who could afford less than half the homes available in their markets was at 76%. That share had risen all year: from 63% in the final quarter of 2020, to 65% in the first quarter of 2021, 71%… Read More ›
Housing affordability held steady at its lowest level in nearly a decade, as higher home prices offset lower mortgage rates to keep the affordability rate flat in the third quarter of 2021. In the months ahead, however, supply-chain disruptions and the prospect of higher interest rates will continue to threaten housing affordability. According to the National Association of Home Builders… Read More ›
An earlier post revealed that 66% of buyers who were actively engaged in the process of finding a home in the third quarter of 2021 have spent 3+ months searching for a home without success. For only the third time in this series history, the top reason these long-time searchers haven’t pulled the trigger is not because they can’t find… Read More ›
After growing steadily for six straight quarters, and peaking at 61% in the second quarter of 2021, the share of prospective buyers actively trying to find a home to buy declined to 57% in the third quarter. This is an indication that fast-growing home prices have begun to discourage a segment of potential buyers from getting past the planning stage…. Read More ›
In the third quarter of 2021, 73% of buyers estimate they can afford less than half the homes available for-sale in their markets. That share is up from 71% the prior quarter, 65% the quarter before that, and 63% in the final quarter of 2020. This steady increase is evidence that double-digit increases in home prices have eroded the positive… Read More ›
Housing affordability has been a key driver of the suburban shift of home building activity over the last year and a half. As the following analysis from the NAHB Home Building Geography Index reveals, lower density markets in general have higher housing affordability conditions, which explains the shift in construction activity. The second quarter HBGI examined county-level Price-to-Income ratios. The… Read More ›
Housing affordability has gained increased attention in recent quarters due growing home prices and rents. For the second quarter of 2021, NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) explored a geographic measure of housing affordability using Price-to-Income ratios of all counties in the United States1 to map the geography of single-family and multifamily construction. The principal findings of this new classification… Read More ›
Soaring building material costs, high demand and low inventory have added tens of thousands of dollars to the price of a new home and caused housing affordability to fall to its lowest level in nearly a decade during the second quarter of 2021. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), 56.6 percent of… Read More ›