Tag: affordability

Has the New Home Premium to Existing Homes Gotten Too Wide?

October 05, 2018 by Zelman & Associates

Of late, there is an argument surfacing that new home pricing has become too expensive relative to the existing home alternative. It goes something like this: the median new home price reported by the Census Bureau over the last four quarters ...

Affordability Reportedly at 10-Year Low – Is it Fear Mongering?

August 24, 2018 by Zelman & Associates

Two weeks ago, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) published its Housing Opportunity Index, which is intended to frame housing affordability across the country. The index is calculated on a 0-100 scale, with higher values aligned ...

An Indirect Benefit from Tax Reform to Entry-Level Buyers as Insurance Rates are Cut

April 20, 2018 by Zelman & Associates

Earlier this year, we dissected the impact of tax cuts on net income for different income cohorts, noting that the average individual tax filer would experience an approximate 1.5% increase in after-tax cash flow in ...

Sorting Through Noise to Identify Trend in Dual-Income Homes, Affordability Impact

April 06, 2018 by Zelman & Associates

From 2011-17, the median existing home price appreciated by 5.9% per year and the median multi-family rental rate climbed by 3.5% annually. Both figures outstripped our calculation of entry-level income growth at 2.2% per year. Naturally, the ...

Is the Entry-Level Affordability Crunch Real?

March 23, 2018 by Zelman & Associates

In 2017, the median existing home sold in the United States cost approximately $206,250, according to CoreLogic’s public record database, which we view as an appropriate proxy for the entry-level price point. That was 5.3% higher than in 2016, ...

With Limited New Home Price Data, Where Do Prices Really Stand Versus Peak?

July 14, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

There are various price indices that track existing home trends with sophisticated algorithms that rely on repeat sales transactions to produce high-quality datasets, including CoreLogic, Case-Shiller, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and ...

Despite Home Price Strength, Entry-Level Affordability Still Screens Favorably

June 02, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

There are numerous home price measures that are provided by the government and private entities, both for free and at a charge, that offer market participants a general understanding of national pricing. Given a very high correlation across ...

Are New Home Prices Rising Too Quickly?

May 19, 2017 by Zelman & Associates

According to our monthly private homebuilding survey that canvasses approximately 15% of the national production market, new orders increased 14% year over year in April, the lowest rate of growth since October and below the ...

Many Entry-Level Buyers Lean on Mom and Dad for Downpayment

December 30, 2016 by Zelman & Associates

Earlier this year, we surveyed a nationally-representative sample of consumers (~3,000) about their demographic, housing and financial circumstances. One area of focus was the perception of mortgage credit availability among renters or those ...

Higher Interest Rates a Near-Term Speed Bump for Home Price Appreciation

December 16, 2016 by Zelman & Associates

Given transparency in home prices through multiple listing services and public records, there are an abundance of data providers tracking the market. To simplify the discussion, we rely on our aggregate existing home price index that incorporates ...