https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cmj66r4lvzzo Excerpts:
"The median home sale price in the US has jumped by nearly 30% since the end of 2019, hitting $420,000 this spring."
"And that's not factoring in the added costs from higher interest rates, which now stand at roughly 7% for the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage that is typical in the US, up from about 3% in 2020."
"Homebuyers today need an annual income of more than $100,000 - well above the country's household median of about $75,000 - to comfortably afford a home in most places in the US, research firms such as Zillow and Bankrate say, and face monthly payments that have roughly doubled in just four years."
"Just 40.1% of renters expect to ever own a home one day, according to the New York Federal Reserve, the smallest share since the bank started asking renters the question in 2014."
"Nearly one third of all households now spend more than a third of their income on housing - the standard cut-off for affordability - the highest level since 2015, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies."
"A recent Harris poll found more than 70% of Americans believe the market is only going to get worse."
"Inflation has been a political noose for Biden in recent years," says Brian Connolly, professor of business law at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, whose work focuses on housing issues. "Housing costs are another place where people are experiencing this financial squeeze."
"With more people priced out of homeownership, rental rates may prove more resilient than expected, keeping inflation elevated."
"No matter what happens - whether they raise, lower or hold them - I feel as though the next decade is probably just going to be difficult no matter what for most people," he says. [Senior economist at Zillow]
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[Doug] They say housing prices are up. I say, value of the dollar is down.