The Unconventional Mortgage: How Home Loans Have Changed Since 2000
Even an instrument as venerable and seemingly stable as the 30-year, fixed mortgage can evolve in the face of changing market forces, demographics and demand – particularly when those changes are as rapid and transformational as those experienced over the past decade or so.
Experts: New Job Growth Expected to Drive Migration Back to Middle America
A marked shift in fortunes between coastal America and Middle America since the housing recovery began – rapid growth in the former, stagnation in the latter – is likely to eventually reverse as cost-conscious companies look for cheaper places to grow, according to a panel of more than 100 experts.
What the Homeownership Rate Really Tells Us About U.S. Housing
A hard half-decade after the bottom of the housing bust, several fundamentals of the U.S. housing market point to a recovery that is nearly complete: Home values in many markets are near or even above pre-recession levels, demand for homes is high and sales are up. But one key piece is missing. The U.S. homeownership rate – at all-time highs just a decade ago – remains stuck today at a 50-year low.
Own-to-Rent: The Foreclosure Crisis and Single-Family Home Rentals
Once strongly associated with homeownership, a growing share of single-family homes are now being rented. And by extension, more of the country’s rental market is now composed of single-family homes.
Q2 2016 Market Report: Tight Inventory Leads to a Need for Speed
It’s well known that a lack of homes for sale is limiting home buyers’ choices this home shopping season. But this inventory shortage is also contributing to another home buying hurdle – along with limited options, buyers also have increasingly limited time to make a decision on a home purchase.
A Wealth of Problems: How the Housing Bust Widened the Rich-Poor Gap
The gap between the rich and poor in the U.S. was already wide prior to the Great Recession, and the housing bust and foreclosure crisis that followed only made it worse.The gap between the rich and poor in the U.S. was already wide prior to the Great Recession, and the housing bust and foreclosure crisis that followed only made it worse.
Housing Highs & Lows: How the Home Affordability Gap Between the Rich and Poor is Widening
Buying a home with a mortgage got slightly more affordable to start of the year, especially compared to renting. But while mortgage affordability overall has improved somewhat, for low-income Americans looking to buy even a modest home, affordability has actually gotten worse – at the same time as it improved for those earning more.
Negative Equity Falling Faster Among Less-Expensive Homes
The overall negative equity rate among bottom-tier homes nationwide was 21.8 percent in Q1, compared to 7.3 percent among top-tier homes, 11.4 percent for middle-tier homes and 12.7 percent for all U.S. homes.
As Rents and Home Values Rise in Many Markets, Is Tech Industry Really to Blame?
There is certainly a reason that many people associate the tech industry with pricey and unaffordable housing. In metropolitan areas with a large share of tech workers, rents and home values are considerably higher. But the reality is that expensive housing often follows in areas where a good share of individuals are earning high wages – whether they work in tech, finance, law, or any number of other industries associated with hefty paychecks.
All Ages Welcome: Why Living Alone Isn’t Just for America’s Young and Old Anymore
After increasing steadily for decades, the share of Americans living alone has been essentially stable over the past five years or so, and has only recently begun to tick up again.
