During the pandemic, household formation soared and people sought more ideal remote working environments, which drove demand for housing, both owned and rented. In the apartment rental market, vacancy rates for all types of apartments declined in the second half of 2020 and through most of 2021, reflecting heightened demand. Read More›

As mortgage rates have steadily risen, affordability has decreased significantly for home buyers across income levels. However, affordability for the potential first-time home buyer – those currently renting – has faced the most pressure. Nationally, affordability for potential first-time home buyers declined 19 percentage points in June 2022 ... Read More›

Following two years of red-hot activity accelerated by pandemic-era dynamics, the housing market is cooling as demand falls in response to a significant decline in affordability. Double-digit house-price appreciation chipped away at affordability as the pandemic-driven supply and demand imbalance fueled competition for a limited inventory of homes ... Read More›

In August 2021, our analysis found that owning a home was cheaper than renting in all 50 of the top U.S. markets, largely due to the ownership benefit of house price appreciation. Given house price appreciation nationally was historically strong in 2021, it’s unsurprising that owning a home made more financial sense than renting last year. Looking ... Read More›

Affordability in the U.S. fell in 2021 on a year-over-year basis, as house-buying power was unable to keep up with red-hot nominal house price growth. The decline in affordability was broad based as affordability fell in most major markets across the U.S., yet some markets remain more affordable than others for potential first-time home buyers. ... Read More›

Unlike the two-thirds of Americans who already own a home, potential first-time home buyers did not benefit from the surging levels of home equity driven by rapid house price appreciation. Just as in 2020, low mortgage rates increased house-buying power and simultaneously boosted demand amid record low levels of homes for sale, further ... Read More›

When potential first-time home buyers consider making the transition to homeownership, they ask themselves whether it makes more financial sense to keep renting, or to buy. The pandemic has undoubtedly impacted that calculation. Annual house price appreciation skyrocketed during the pandemic, reaching an average of 17.5 percent annual growth in ... Read More›

In the fourth quarter of 2020, the median renter experienced a 10 percent boost to their house-buying power relative to one year ago, but the share of homes they could afford to buy declined by 4 percentage points due to rising house prices, according to the First-Time Home Buyer Outlook Report. However, while we recently examined affordability ... Read More›