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Student Loan Debt Looming as Affordability Constraints Stretch Further

July 13, 2023 by Alan Ratner

Given a combination of the recent increase in mortgage rates and a reacceleration in home prices over the last three months, the current P&I payment on an average new home stands at roughly $3,000 per month – up nearly 70% from two years ago and 25% above trend line...

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affordability homeownership millennials mortgage rates student debt

How Quickly Could “No Inventory” Narrative Change?

May 26, 2022 by Ryan McKeveny

Including a 10% year-over-year decline in April’s existing home inventory to 1.03 million – a record low for the month – the NAR has reported year-over-year inventory decreases for 35 consecutive months. While narratives around “no inventory” have been pervasive, data from Redfin and implied by the NAR both suggest that the number of new listings – or the flow into inventory – was highest in at least a decade in 2021.

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existing home sales homeownership

Share of Homebuyers With Weaker Credit Profiles Bouncing Back, But Not Everywhere

February 03, 2022 by Kevin Kaczmarek

As we noted in our latest mortgage survey and November newsletter, lower-quality credits have been gaining share in the home purchase market and likely will continue to do so, barring a sudden resurgence in refinance activity. Some may ask how this can be the case given daily media headlines describing red-hot housing markets and affordability crises. Before addressing that, we should examine some facts...

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affordability demographics homeownership macro housing mortgage mortgage rates new home sales

High-End Housing in Focus as Loan Limits Rise

December 06, 2021 by Kevin Kaczmarek & Ryan McKeveny

While housing’s strength since the pandemic began has been fairly broad-based, it is informative to delineate sales trends by price point. Although overall existing home sales have started to inflect lower on a year-over-year basis in recent months, the high-end segment of the market has continued to post growth, remaining…

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existing home sales home pricing homeownership real estate services

Will Media Narrative Surrounding Homeownership Declines Embolden Already-Aggressive Built-for-Rent Developers?

November 18, 2021 by Alan Ratner

In recent weeks, a number of media headlines have pointed to a “plummeting" interest in homeownership as a by-product of the pandemic, seemingly justifying the massive push towards purpose-built single-family rental communities as households seek out the flexibility of renting along with the benefits of the single-family lifestyle. The narrative...

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build-for-rent homeownership macro housing millennials single-family rental

Labor Shortages Abound, Not So For Realtors Chasing Robust Pricing

October 27, 2021 by Ryan McKeveny

With severe labor shortages throughout the economy, including in the construction sector, one area seeing fairly unfettered expansion is the real estate agent community, encouraged by the housing market’s strength over the last 18 months and low barriers to entry. The National Association of Realtors’ membership, a rough proxy for industry-wide agent count, has reached its highest level ever...

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demographics homeownership household formation housing macro housing real estate services supply

Is the "Pig in the Python" Back?

June 24, 2021 by Ivy Zelman & Rachel Rockey

In 2009, when distressed activity was top of mind, we were vocal in our concern that the buildup of foreclosure moratoriums was portraying a false sense of security at a time when industry participants and investors were hoping for a bottoming out in the market. Our views were justified as...

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affordability existing home sales homeownership housing macro housing mortgage supply

High-End Housing is Back, and For Now, It’s Outperforming

December 17, 2020 by Ryan McKeveny & Dennis McGill

Alongside the broad-based 2H20 surge in homes sales, home prices and housing demand more generally, a notable undertone has been relative outperformance within the high-end segment of the market. What had easily been the most subdued piece of the housing puzzle in 2018 and 2019 has shifted to an outsized contributor of growth...

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affordability existing home sales home pricing homeownership mortgage rates real estate services

Immigration Policy Likely to be a Net Positive for Housing Under Biden

December 07, 2020 by Ivy Zelman, Dennis McGill & Alan Ratner

With President-elect Joe Biden set to occupy the White House on January 20th, there has been a lot of discussion about the potential impact of tax reform, student debt forgiveness and a proposed homebuyer tax credit on the housing market. Ultimately, a lot will depend upon the outcome of...

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demographics homebuilding homeownership household formation macro housing

Which Mortgage Lenders Are Attracting Young Borrowers? You Might Be Surprised

November 10, 2020 by Ivy Zelman, Dennis McGill & Kevin Kaczmarek

Some mortgage lenders emphasize the benefit of capturing “customers for life”, whereby they attract younger, often first-time homebuyers as borrowers, retain servicing rights and, ideally, complete one or more future originations from that same borrower. While many lenders tout their technology...

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homeownership millennials mortgage mortgage rates