Key Points: Consumer confidence has weakened as economic uncertainty has increased, driven by rising geopolitical tensions, energy prices, and financial market volatility. Housing fundamentals have improved compared with a year ago, with both house-buying power and inventory improving over last year, but recent mortgage rate increases have reduced ...
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Key Points: The average monthly cost of owning a single-family home, including mortgage payments, taxes, insurance and utilities, increased 4.6% in 2024 to $1,789—a slower increase than in the prior two years. Day‑to‑day ownership costs—taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and utilities—increased just 2.6 percent, the slowest growth since 2020. Insurance ...
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Key Points: Improved affordability gives homebuyers a spring lift, with house-buying power in February up 10 percent relative to list prices from a year ago. Even with those gains, affordability remains below pre-pandemic levels, and the pace of recovery has diverged across markets. Markets with smaller remaining affordability gaps are better ...
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Key Points: Affordability improved nearly 11 percent year over year in January, reaching its highest level since August 2022. Income growth has outpaced house price growth for 19 straight months, boosting house-buying power even as mortgage rates remain elevated. Markets with declining home prices had the largest affordability gains, while areas ...
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Key Points: For-sale inventory is up 9 percent year over year, and house-buying power has increased roughly 12 percent, easing some pressure on affordability. While overall inventory has improved, new listings are still down 4 percent from a year ago—limiting how much sales can rebound. Despite recent mortgage rate volatility and disappointing ...
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Key Points: House-buying power enters the 2026 spring home-buying season above the national median list price for the first time in more than three years. In December 2025, house-buying power reached $417,000 at the national level, a five percent surplus above the national median list price of $396,000. While still below pre-pandemic norms, the ...
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