Tag Archives: Affordability

ProTeck Valuation Services released its May Home Value Forecast (HVF), which detailed affordability indexes for Houston and Miami. The report found that although home prices have been rising steadily, housing is still very affordable when considered on historical terms.

The Wells Fargo Economics Group released its Housing Chartbook for May 2014. The group found that most markets are finding themselves "wildly out of balance" from inflated home prices driven by investor purchases, as well as exceptionally tight inventories that are well ahead of any improvement in demand.

While many analysts are celebrating the slow and steady recovery of the housing market, an article by the borrower advice website LoanLove offers a different view of the current state of the United States housing market. The article cites economists who believe the current housing market recovery stretching back 18 months is not a true sign of the market's economic outlook. Rather, the recovery is built on shaky ground that could collapse.

According to Trulia, for the first time since July 2012, none of the 100 largest markets in May—anywhere in the United States—saw home prices rise more than 20 percent year-over-year. This is the first sign of sustainability in the housing market in years and is a welcome change from the hyper-rebounding that occurred in some markets—particularly in the West, where asking prices rose by as much as 30 percent from 2012 to 2013.

As the housing market continues to mend, bringing hope to many formerly underwater homeowners or others who simply hoped for a good return on their investments, at least one group of young Americans has seen no relief in the improving market. HUD released a report this week chronicling the challenges young adults aging out of foster care face in finding safe, affordable housing.

In a survey of 106 economists, real estate experts, and investment and market strategists, Zillow found a slight majority—28 percent—pinned the most blame for declining affordability on stagnant income growth across the country, even as the rest of the economy has moved in a generally positive direction.

A decrease in median home prices coupled with steady mortgage rates helped contribute to higher housing affordability in the first quarter of 2014, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). NAHB, coupled with Wells Fargo, recently published their Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), which found 65.5 percent of new and existing homes sold between January through March were affordable to families.

According to the latest quarterly report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), year-over-year home price growth continued in most metros, albeit at a slightly lessened pace. The median existing single-family home price increased in 74 percent of measured markets.

Zillow’s Q1 Real Estate Market Report, released Tuesday, shows that home values across the United States are up 5.7 percent (to a national median of $169,800) compared to Q1 2013. Even more encouraging is that home values in 527 U.S. cities that saw declines of 10 percent or more during the recession are either at their peak or soon will be.

A look into 35 major markets by Zillow reveals that buyers making the median income in Southern California, the Bay Area, Portland (Oregon), Denver, and Miami face markets where more than half the available homes are beyond their price range—which could mean the beginning of a new housing bubble.