Ten years after the Great Recession, homeownership remains one of the main tenets of the American Dream. Amid the recovery from the housing crisis, the homeownership rate hit a generational low of 63 percent in 2016, but it has been steadily rising since. What’s behind the steady rise since the 2016 low point? The explanation lies in the shifts in ... Read More ›

First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi was interviewed on Nightly Business Report last week and discussed the record-setting economic expansion and the health of the housing market in 2019. Read More ›

June marked the 10-year anniversary of the end of the Great Recession. Amid Independence Day celebrations, assessing how the American dream of homeownership has fared since the recession can provide helpful context for the health of today’s housing market. We have assembled a set of housing metrics and compared their values today with what those ... Read More ›

Last month, we predicted that if mortgage rates continued to fall, it may help ease the pressure on fraud risk. Indeed, the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell to its lowest level since January 2018, and fraud risk has fallen alongside it. The Loan Application Defect Index for purchase transactions declined 6.3 percent in May compared with April, ... Read More ›

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 ›