Eye On Housing
Affordability continues to be a serious constraint for prospective home buyers. One way to find out buyers’ perception about this issue is to ask them to estimate the share of all homes for-sale in their markets they are able to afford. A strong majority of 79% say they can afford fewer than half of the homes available. This in turn… Read More ›
Only about 2 out of every 10 prospective home buyers (people looking to buy a home in the next year) expect the search for a home to get easier in the months ahead. The majority, about 7 out of 10, instead think house hunting will get harder or stay about the same. This opinion is shared among buyers of all… Read More ›
A modest increase in interest rates and home prices kept housing affordability at a 10-year low in the third quarter of 2018, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 56.4 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of July and end of September were affordable to families earning… Read More ›
Strong wage growth more than offset an increase in mortgage interest rates to boost nationwide housing affordability in the first quarter of 2018, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 61.6 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of January and end of March were affordable to families… Read More ›
Data for all four quarters of 2017 show housing affordability remaining essentially flat throughout the year, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 59.6 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of October and end of December were affordable to families earning the U.S. median income of $68,000…. Read More ›
San Francisco, which has been the nation’s least affordable major housing market for nearly five years, was supplanted by Los Angeles in the third quarter of 2017, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). Nationwide, 58.3 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of July and end of September were… Read More ›
Rising wages and moderating home prices offset a rise in mortgage interest rates to give housing affordability a slight boost in the first quarter of 2017, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 60.3 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of January and end of March were affordable… Read More ›
Ongoing home price appreciation offset a small decline in mortgage interest rates to move housing affordability slightly lower in the third quarter of 2016, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 61.4 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of July and end of September were affordable to families… Read More ›
Solid home price appreciation more than offset a modest reduction in mortgage interest rates to push housing affordability lower in the second quarter of 2016, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). In all, 62 percent of new and existing homes sold between the beginning of April and end of June were affordable to… Read More ›
NAHB Economics estimates that 14 million American households are priced out of the market for a new home by government regulations that, on average, increase the new home price by 24.3%. Households become “priced out” when they no longer qualify for a new home mortgage because of higher prices. A recent NAHB study estimated that, on average, regulations imposed by… Read More ›