Continued deterioration in U.S. housing affordability – particularly at the low end of the market and for renters – is bringing to light a number of problems around income growth and social mobility that may have big implications for all Americans going forward.
Market Trends
Social Mobility May Suffer as Income Growth Fails to Keep Pace With Rising Housing Costs
The United States has long cherished its hard-earned reputation as the land of opportunity. But for millions working to ensure their children can move up the socio-economic ladder, rapidly rising housing costs are threatening instead to kick the ladder out from underneath them, limiting their potential social mobility.
How Land-Use Regulation Impacts Inventory, Rents and Roommates
In many American cities, more means more – and not in a particularly good way. Tighter land-use regulation in these cities is associated with more rapidly rising rents, more acute shortages of homes for sale and more adults living with roommates in the face of rising housing costs and fewer housing options.
In Denver, Past Housing Performance Is No Guarantee of Future Housing Returns
Denver’s rapid growth has given rise to increasing concerns over both the availability and affordability of housing in the city itself. In response, the city has developed plans and proposals to try to ensure enough housing while also keeping housing cost burdens manageable. But do the city’s current plans go far enough? Yes and no.
Making It Work in the Mile-High City: Denver’s Rapidly Growing – and Changing – Job Market
Denver today is one of America’s fastest-growing and hottest markets, a far cry from the largely rough-and-tumble and relatively slow-moving mountain metro it was even 15 years ago. And as the city has changed, so too has its job market.
Q4 2015 Negative Equity: When Abnormal Is the New Normal
It’s no secret that high levels of negative equity cause housing markets to act abnormally. But that doesn’t mean that some amount of negative equity isn’t normal, or that persistently elevated rates of negative equity aren’t rapidly becoming the new normal in dozens of markets nationwide.
The Best Time to List? May Is the New March
The best time to list a home for sale -- when the sale price is maximized and time on market minimized -- has shifted from March to May.
January Market Report: Low Inventory Limiting Options for Buyers Nationwide
For months, the story in the national housing market has been about the differences in housing market performance in various local markets – some markets are super hot, some a little more sedate and some still struggling to recover – depending on local economic fundamentals. But if there’s one constant across almost every market nationwide, it’s lack of inventory.
Now and Later: How a Stronger U.S. Dollar Impacts Foreign Buyers
In pure U.S. dollars and cents, the median American home is currently worth roughly 6.4 percent less than it was prior to the great recession. But for those looking to invest their Russian rubles and kopeks in U.S. real estate, or Brazilian reais and centavos (among other currencies), U.S. homes are more expensive than they’ve been in at least two decades – and maybe ever.
Tough at the Top: How Luxury Lagged Late in 2015
After growing in line with more modest areas throughout much of the first half of 2015, home value appreciation in America’s toniest ZIP codes stalled over the past 6 months – even as growth in entry-level and mid-market communities continued.
