Key Points: Homeowners insurance premiums in the U.S. increased by 21 percent between 2021 and 2023, driven by severe weather-related events, rising construction costs, and higher claim payouts. The South, particularly coastal cities, faced the steepest hikes, with eight of the 10 metros with the fastest-growing premiums located in the region. ...
Read More ›
Key Points: Rising inventory and affordability challenges are cooling price appreciation nationally. House prices have dipped below their peaks in 47 of the top 50 markets. Despite price declines, significant equity buffers remain for those that purchased over the boom period. In February 2025, home buyers received some welcome news as mortgage ...
Read More ›
Key Points: The rate lock-in effect peaked in Q4 2023 with a 3.2 percentage point difference between the average prevailing mortgage rate and the average outstanding mortgage rate. Due to lower mortgage rates and steadily increasing share of people buying homes at higher rates, the rate lock-in effect has loosened, prompting higher for-sale ...
Read More ›
Key Points: Comparing the pace of home sales today to past decades without considering the growing number of households is misleading. Existing-home sales as a percentage of total households have declined to early 1990s levels, just above 3 percent, and well below the long-run average of 4.1 percent. The number of new-home sales as a percentage of ...
Read More ›
Key Points: Affordability started the year poorly, but preliminary February data shows some improvement due to lower mortgage rates, slower price appreciation, and rising incomes. Price growth, a key driver of affordability trends, is a function of supply and demand dynamics in the housing market, which can be measured in months' supply. Months' ...
Read More ›
Key Points: Recessions don’t always mean falling home sales – the housing market has remained resilient in many past downturns. Lower mortgage rates can offset economic uncertainty – the Federal Reserve often cuts rates in a recession, making homes more affordable. Every recession is different – unlike the Great Recession, most downturns haven’t ...
Read More ›