Americans are living through the toughest housing market in a generation and, for some young people, the quintessential dream of owning a home is slipping away.
Mortgage rates surged in recent years, hitting the highest levels in more than two decades last fall. While rates have come down slightly since then, home prices remain painfully elevated and a limited inventory of housing is still failing to keep up with demand. Such conditions mean that housing has become woefully unaffordable.
Falling mortgage rates in recent weeks have helped, but home prices could remain sticky, according to economists. It’s still a cruddy time to be hunting for a home, but it’s even worse for young, first-time buyers who need to save up for a down payment and build up their credit score during a time when Baby Boomers are refusing to part with their big houses.
The situation isn’t a whole lot better for renters, with rents barely coming down from record highs and half of tenants in that market saying they can’t even afford their payments.
The uneasiness over America’s affordability crisis is captured clearly in surveys and polls, but data that outlines the sentiment specifically among young people is limited.
Brit here. I’m 43, earning more than I ever have and have basically no hope of ever owning a home.
And Canada has been struggling with this for something like a decade. I am not Canadian, just adding to what you are saying in how this is not a problem that is limited to the USA.
We have the same problem as the US. Vote team red team or team blue. We have a team orange in Canada, however they’re seemingly unable to find strong leadership.
In the USA we get the option to allow the rich to mostly ignore us while they increase their profits, or for them to flat-out enslave us while they increase their profits. Truly the worst time-line:-(.
We don’t have a team orange anymore, they joined team red.
Because they lack strong leadership
Correction: Parts of Canada. It’s a big country with a lot of places in between Vancouver and the GTA.
I would presume that it would occur mostly in or near the cities, being easier to control that way - is that right?
Same. 40 yo, nearing the top of my industry in salary, and every time I look at the housing market, it doubles.
I was lucky enough to purchase my home before it doubled in value just under 6 years ago. And at a 2 and a quarter % rate. And now I’m locked into this house now because there’s no way I’m jumping out of a rate this low.
~8 years ago here, the numbers didn’t work out for me to drop my rate over covid but I found a house at $75k at 4.125 on a va loan, I recently bumped my payment to pay it off at 50 but my base mortgage is under $500. I’m not going anywhere.
And if you do, the market is just gonna crash and you’ll be stuck with that inflated mortgage and unable to move physically or financially.
Look into Habitat for Humanity. Pick up the phone, call and inquire. Just do it.
Attend the first meeting where they give a general outline of the program and put in your application.
5 of the 13 homes on my block were built by Habitat, and none of us would have got a mortgage without them.
Be glad to answer general questions, but the program rules vary by area.
Um, dumb question: I thought they only built very, very low-income homes. Which is fine, but as bad as the housing market is, I don’t want to take a house out from under a needy family, for example. I’ll survive, I always do…
Just looking at my local housing market, low income is where the housing is needed most. but what that means in dollar figures differs from area to area. Where I am, if you’re making $70k+ there are plenty of houses on the market you can afford (figuring a 2 to 4 times gross wages budget), but the median income in Alabama was something like $35k last I looked. Not much available those folks can afford.
Homeownership is dead, it’s time to build community land trusts instead
Have 4.7 acres of commercial property how could I turn that into affordable housing?
Talk to a real estate lawyer
if it’s zoned for commercial use you cant easily convert it into residential use, nor can it be done cheaply. not worth the time and effort.
I don’t want to convert it but can’t you build apartments on it our something?
You’ll need to talk to your city zoning reps. It’s possible, sometimes, but it depends on the location.
You’re also going to need a massive starting investment to build apartments, fair warning. You could try and sell the land to a development company but that seems counterproductive to what you’re trying to accomplish.
I also find it incredibly frustrating that mortgages can’t be taken out to have a home built… There’s land for sale where I am that can be residential, but I don’t have the money to build and the only people that do are the developers that build McMansions when we need starter homes…
That would be converting it to residential then.
I am 53 and live in DC. I bought just as the pandemic was starting when nobody knew what was going to happen and the rates were low. The market has since exploded and I could never have afforded the home I am in.
Honestly I gave up a long time ago
Wait, I heard this one before…
BuT tHe EcOnOMy iS GrEaT rIgHt NoW, EvEN FOx NeWS HaD To AGrEe.
That’s how you know they are conspiring.
I’m considered young again! \o/
And the majority of those who haven’t given up yet are simply delusional.
Some? Lol
Look into Habitat for Humanity. Pick up the phone, call and inquire. Just do it.
Attend the first meeting where they give a general outline of the program and put in your application.
5 of the 13 homes on my block were built by Habitat, and none of us would have got a mortgage without them.
Be glad to answer general questions, but the program rules vary by area.
Is there any hope that it might get better in a few years, like downswings & upswings kind of a thing?
Nope. If you don’t already own a house you very likely never will.
W-w-well, I n-n-never wanted one a-a-anyway!
I dunno man, i have a feeling we’re in for a Depression level event, the bottom might fall out of the market.
In Canada, the average person working full time makes about $37k a year. The average house price in Canada is something like ~$900k. We’re all super fucked.
Some?
I’ve gave up. Now it’s just racing the clock to make sure I get something for my kids to live in. Even if it’s a bit of a commute.
