An earlier post revealed that 67% of buyers who were actively engaged in the process of finding a home in the 1st quarter of 2022 have spent 3+ months searching for a home without success. By far, the most common reason these long-term searchers cite for not having bought by now is their inability to find an affordable home (48%). … Read More ›
A growing segment of prospective home buyers aren’t moving past the planning stage. At its peak in mid-2021, 61% were actively trying to find a home to buy. Now, the share is back to pre-pandemic levels, at 46%. This is clear evidence that higher mortgage rates and double-digit growth in home prices are discouraging a growing share of buyers from… Read More ›
Buyers’ expectations for housing affordability continue to sour. In the first quarter of 2022, 81% said they could afford less than half the homes for-sale in their markets – the highest share since before the pandemic. At its lowest point in the 4th quarter of 2020, 63% of buyers expected to afford <50% of the homes available. On the other… Read More ›
Buyers’ expectations of housing availability continue to worsen. At its peak in the 4th quarter of 2020, 36% expected the home search to get easier in the months ahead. After five straight drops, the share is now 17% – a level not seen since 2018. In contrast, 74% expect the search for a home to get harder/stay the same. Buyers’… Read More ›
Rapidly rising interest rates combined with ongoing home price increases and higher construction costs continue to take a toll on builder confidence and housing affordability. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes moved two points lower to 77 in April, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). This is the… Read More ›
Over the first two month of 2022, the total number of single-family permits issued year-to-date (YTD) nationwide reached 170,716. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, this is a 3.5% increase over the February 2021 level of 164,901. Year-to-date ending in February, single-family permits declined in two out of the four regions. The South posted an increase of 7.6% while the Midwest… Read More ›
