First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming was interviewed on CNBC last week and discussed the outlook for mortgage rates and the impact of rising tenure length on housing supply. Read More ›

Two of the three key drivers of the Real House Price Index (RHPI), household income and mortgage rates, swung in favor of increased affordability in April. The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell by 0.33 percentage points and household income increased 2.7 percent compared to April 2018. When household income rises, consumer house-buying power ... Read More ›

The housing market outperformed its potential in May 2019. Actual existing-home sales are 0.2 percent above the market’s current potential, according to our Potential Home Sales model. Even as mortgage rates have decreased, and household income has increased, the market is underperforming compared to it’s potential from a year ago. What are the ... Read More ›

In late 2018, many experts believed the housing market in 2019 would behave very similar to the 2018 housing market, characterized by rising demand for homes and limited supply driving house price appreciation, while mortgage rates continued their steady ascent. Then, December 2018 brought a sudden drop in mortgage rates, a decline which has ... Read More ›

Faced with often misleading affordability metrics and seemingly challenging housing market dynamics, many renters may underestimate their house-buying power and the supply of homes in their market that they can afford. Potential first-time home buyers can benefit from a more targeted examination of affordability, which begins by accurately ... Read More ›

In our most recent Potential Home Sales Model analysis, we noted that the housing market’s potential improved in April because falling mortgage rates and rising household income combined to increase consumer house-buying power more than enough than to offset house price appreciation. In other words, house-buying power won the tug of war with house ... Read More ›