The market is going through wrenching changes now.

And has been for a while. But these things go in cycles.

From CalculatedRiskBlog

Note that by this index, during the early ‘80s, homes were very unaffordable due to the very high mortgage rates. During the housing bubble, houses were also less affordable using 30-year mortgage rates, however, during the bubble, there were many “affordability products” that allowed borrowers to be qualified at the teaser rate (usually around 1%) that made houses seem more affordable.

In general, this would suggest houses are the least affordable since the housing bubble. This says nothing about if “now is a good time to buy” (see the bottom of my post Housing: A Look at "Affordability" Indexes).

Also, in January, the average 30-year mortgage rates were around 3.45%, and currently mortgage rates are close to 4.9% - so we already know the “Affordability Price Index” will increase sharply over the next couple of months (meaning houses are even less affordable).

We were fortunate to be able to buy in the late '90s and pay it off early. People in their mid-late 30s looking to buy now (or even rent now) are paying substantially more than we did and it looks to continue on that trend for a while.

:-(

Zoning changes, like (as I understand it) California did to allow/require duplex zoning on previously single-family homes areas, will help eventually. Restricting (somehow) speculators buying up all the inventory (and sometimes keeping it off the market) may help too.

Cheers,
Scott.

Post #441,268 by Another Scott 3/31/22 11:02:09 AM 3/31/22 11:02:09 AM Reply	The market is going through wrenching changes now. And has been for a while. But these things go in cycles. From CalculatedRiskBlog Note that by this index, during the early ‘80s, homes were very unaffordable due to the very high mortgage rates. During the housing bubble, houses were also less affordable using 30-year mortgage rates, however, during the bubble, there were many “affordability products” that allowed borrowers to be qualified at the teaser rate (usually around 1%) that made houses seem more affordable. In general, this would suggest houses are the least affordable since the housing bubble. This says nothing about if “now is a good time to buy” (see the bottom of my post Housing: A Look at "Affordability" Indexes). Also, in January, the average 30-year mortgage rates were around 3.45%, and currently mortgage rates are close to 4.9% - so we already know the “Affordability Price Index” will increase sharply over the next couple of months (meaning houses are even less affordable). We were fortunate to be able to buy in the late '90s and pay it off early. People in their mid-late 30s looking to buy now (or even rent now) are paying substantially more than we did and it looks to continue on that trend for a while. :-( Zoning changes, like (as I understand it) California did to allow/require duplex zoning on previously single-family homes areas, will help eventually. Restricting (somehow) speculators buying up all the inventory (and sometimes keeping it off the market) may help too. Cheers, Scott.
Post #441,269 by drook 3/31/22 11:43:59 AM 3/31/22 11:43:59 AM Reply	I've heard it's mostly the first Failure/refusal to build new "first" housing (smaller homes, multi-unit development, etc.) is the main problem. Speculators buying property is happening, but it's more on the margins. Both of these are very geographically specific. -- Drew
Post #441,271 by malraux 3/31/22 3:32:23 PM 3/31/22 3:32:23 PM Reply	By that chart, it's not that far off the '76 baseline now "houses are the least affordable since the housing bubble" - they're much closer to the most affordable it has been since'76 than they are to the peak of the last housing bubble. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.

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