The Tale of Two Markets Continues…For Now

By Odeta Kushi on July 19, 2024
Even with more existing-home inventory on the market than last year, today’s potential home buyers face one of the least affordable markets in history due to record-high and still-rising home prices and elevated mortgage rates. Each month, we use our Existing-Home Sales Outlook Report to ‘nowcast’ existing-home sales based on the historical ... Read More

Housing Mortgage Rates Existing-Home Sales

Affordability Crunch Likely Unchanged Through End of the Year

By Mark Fleming on July 3, 2024
Apart from the fall of 2023, affordability in May reached its lowest level in over three decades. On a year-over-year basis, affordability declined by nearly 9 percent. Two factors drove the sharp annualized drop in affordability – a 5.9 percent annual increase in nominal house prices, according to our First American Data & Analytics House ... Read More

Housing Interest Rates Real House Price Index Affordability

For Potential First-Time Home Buyers, it May Be Memphis or Bust

By Odeta Kushi on June 26, 2024
As National Homeownership Month comes to a close, it’s important to examine the current challenges facing the housing market. Nationally, housing affordability has declined compared with one year ago, especially for potential first-time home buyers. According to our First Time Home Buyer Outlook Report, the median renter, who can also be ... Read More

Housing First-Time Homebuyer First-Time Home Buyer Outlook Report Mortgage Rates

Twin Market Dynamics Continue to Stifle Existing-Home Sales

By Odeta Kushi on June 14, 2024
The housing market is struggling to gain momentum with mortgage rates above their levels from a year ago. Higher rates have a dual impact on sales – pricing out buyers who lose purchasing power and keeping some potential sellers rate-locked in. Our Existing-Home Sales Outlook Report ‘nowcasts’ existing-home sales based on the historical ... Read More

Housing Mortgage Rates Existing-Home Sales

More Homes for Sale Sparks Uptick in Housing Market Activity

By Odeta Kushi on May 20, 2024
In the housing market, the seller and the buyer are, in many cases, the same. To buy a new home, you must sell the home you already own. For several years, a persistent and historic lack of supply has restrained the housing market, but a recent uptick in inventory is poised to boost sales activity as the spring home-buying season peaks. Our ... Read More

Housing Mortgage Rates Existing-Home Sales

‘She-Cession’ Can’t Slow Homeownership Surge Among Single Women

By Ksenia Potapov on March 7, 2024
As we commemorate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, it’s an opportune time to celebrate the progress that single women have made in pursuit of the American Dream of homeownership. According to an analysis of anonymized household-level survey data, the homeownership rate among single, female-headed households (including widowed, ... Read More

Housing Homeownership