How Low Mortgage Rates Help and Hurt Housing Market Potential

By Mark Fleming on January 22, 2020
The final month of 2019 saw actual existing-home sales exceed housing market potential by 1.2 percent, or an estimated 64,830 seasonally adjusted annualized sales. According to our Potential Home Sales Model, housing market potential increased 1.7 percent in December 2019 relative to the previous month, and grew 2.6 percent year over year, an ... Read More

Interest Rates Potential Home Sales Tenure

Will Housing Market Potential in 2020 Exceed 2019?

By Mark Fleming on December 18, 2019
In November 2019, the housing market outperformed its potential, as actual existing-home sales exceeded market potential by 2.8 percent, or an estimated 146,340 seasonally adjusted annualized sales. Housing market potential increased 1.4 percent relative to last month and 3.9 percent compared with November of last year, an increase of 196,480 ... Read More

Interest Rates Potential Home Sales Tenure

What Do Rising Rates and Tenure Length Mean for Housing Market Potential in 2020?

By Mark Fleming on November 20, 2019
In October 2019, the housing market exceeded its potential, as actual existing-home sales exceeded market potential by 4.6 percent, or an estimated 239,000 seasonally adjusted annualized sales. Housing market potential decreased relative to last month, but increased 0.6 percent compared with October of last year. Read More

Interest Rates Potential Home Sales Tenure

What’s the Outlook for Housing Market Potential for the Rest of 2019?

By Mark Fleming on October 18, 2019
In September 2019, the housing market performed to its potential, as actual existing-home sales were a marginal 0.04 percent, or an estimated 2,340 seasonally adjusted annualized sales, below market potential. Housing market potential decreased relative to last month, but increased 3.8 percent compared with September of last year. Indeed, in ... Read More

Interest Rates Potential Home Sales Tenure

How Can Existing-Home Sales Exceed Market Potential?

By Mark Fleming on September 18, 2019
The housing market exceeded its potential in August 2019, as actual existing-home sales were 0.8 percent above the market’s potential. Housing market potential increased relative to last month, but declined 1.9 percent compared with August of last year. While down compared with a year ago, existing-home sales have slightly outperformed market ... Read More

Interest Rates Potential Home Sales Tenure

What Does Increasing Tenure Length Mean for the Housing Market?

By Mark Fleming on August 20, 2019
The housing market essentially reached its potential in July 2019, as actual existing-home sales were 0.05 percent above the market’s potential. Existing-home sales in 2019 are running at a pace similar to 2015, even though rates have fallen and household income has increased this year. Housing market potential benefitted from a 10.6 percent ... Read More

Interest Rates Federal Reserve Homeownership Potential Home Sales