Category Archives: housing market

How Do We Build More Housing?

The Mortgage Corner Calculated Risk The housing market is cooling as is the fall weather. It’s not good news for those needing to live somewhere, given the low for sale inventory. But interest rates still remain at record lows, with … Continue reading →

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California’s NIMBY Problem

The Mortgage Corner Calculated Risk It’s no secret that California has a housing problem. Its bias for single-family, ‘not-in-my-backyard’ (NIMBY) zoning since the 1960s has finally caught up with reality—in the form of more than 150,000 residents homeless and some 700,000 … Continue reading →

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July Housing Sales Stay Strong

The Mortgage Corner Calculated Risk WASHINGTON (August 23, 2021) – Existing-home sales rose in July, marking two consecutive months of increases, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Three of the four major U.S. regions recorded modest month-over-month gains, and … Continue reading →

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Why Keep Interest Rates This Low?

Financial FAQs FREDPersavings Inflation isn’t yet a problem, but are very low interest rates becoming a problem? Interest rates have been at record lows for years, thanks to the Federal Reserve that has been buying up enough bonds and mortgage … Continue reading →

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Consumer Confidence, Home Prices Soar For How Long?

Financial FAQs Conference Board Consumer confidence is at record highs, as growing numbers of consumers believe the roaring 2020’s recovery is here to stay. And it’s also sending home price increases to record highs. But this isn’t another housing bubble. … Continue reading →

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Can We Fix the Housing Shortage?

The Mortgage Corner Calculated Risk Existing-home sales of single-family, condos and apartments were down slightly from their recent highs for a number of reasons. This is while demand for housing is skyrocketing with home prices up 20 percent year-over-year, but … Continue reading →

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When the Return to Normal Activity?

Financial FAQs Calculated Risk When will most American workers return to work, and the U.S. economy return to normal activity? The Calculated Risk-FRED graph since 1992 tells us that retail sales have historically never varied substantially from a 5 percent … Continue reading →

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How High Go Housing Prices?

The Mortgage Corner Calculatedriskblog How high can housing prices go? They rose in double digits annually in the early 2000s during the housing bubble. But that was when the housing supply could not keep up with the demand for housing, … Continue reading →

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January Home Sales Exceed Expectations

The Mortgage Corner Calculated Risk The Calculated Risk/FRED graph shows that new-home sales are approaching the 2000 level at the start of the last housing bubble that ultimately resulted in the Great Recession (blue bars are recessions). But that doesn’t … Continue reading →

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Housing Construction Soars

The Mortgage Corner Calculated Risk As much housing is being built today as in 2006 at the height of the housing bubble. What is going on? People want to move away from cities, where fear of COVID-19 contagion is highest, … Continue reading →

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