Eye On Housing
In addition to analyzing buyers’ perceptions about housing availability, the quarterly Housing Trends Report (HTR) also explores perceptions about housing affordability. The poll asks prospective home buyers to estimate the share of homes available in their markets they believe they can afford. In the final quarter of 2018, three out of every four buyers (76%) estimate they can afford fewer than… Read More ›
In the last quarter of 2017, 27% of prospective home buyers expected the search for a home to get easier in the months ahead. Fast forward a year to the final quarter of 2018, and that share falls to 19%. Logically, if fewer buyers think house hunting is getting easier, then a growing share must feel it is getting harder… Read More ›
In the final quarter of 2018, 13% of adults reported plans to purchase a home within a year. A year earlier, in the final quarter of 2017, a significantly larger portion – 24% – had the same plans. This sharp decline in the share of prospective home buyers provides additional evidence that the erosion of housing affordability has become a… Read More ›
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 ›