The Real House Price Index (RHPI) measures affordability in the context of changes in consumer house-buying power, incorporating fluctuations in household income, mortgage rates and nominal house prices. In June, housing affordability declined on a year-over-year basis for the fourth month in a row, following two years of increasing affordability. ... Read More ›

First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi was interviewed on CNBC and Yahoo! Finance last week, discussing potential moderation of the housing market and affordability challenges with CNBC and providing perspective on July housing starts data and the implications for the housing market with Yahoo! Finance. Read More ›

Housing market potential strengthened in July, according to our Potential Home Sales Model, increasing 1.3 percent compared with June. It is now nearly 16 percent higher than in July of last year, when the housing market’s summer rebound began, following the initial pandemic-driven decline in the spring. Read More ›

When potential first-time home buyers consider making the transition to homeownership, they ask themselves whether it makes more financial sense to keep renting, or to buy. The pandemic has undoubtedly impacted that calculation. Annual house price appreciation skyrocketed during the pandemic, reaching an average of 17.5 percent annual growth in ... Read More ›

Housing affordability declined on a year-over-year basis for the third month in a row in May, following a two-year streak of rising affordability. The decline in May occurred even as two of the three key drivers of the Real House Price Index (RHPI), household income and mortgage rates, swung in favor of greater affordability relative to one year ... Read More ›

Housing market potential strengthened modestly in June, increasing 0.2 percent compared with May, according to our Potential Home Sales Model. Potential home sales are nearly 17 percent higher than the pandemic-driven decline last June. Read More ›