Both existing and new homes prices continue to rise even with higher interest rates. Those who want to get into the housing market can't be happy with the lack of homes affordability. Those who have been anticipating the Fed cutting interest rates will be waiting quite a while: Home Prices Soar to Record High, Squeezing Affordability (breitbart.com) The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city index climbed 7.4 percent year-over-year in March, an acceleration from February’s 7.3 percent increase, according to data released Tuesday. Compared to February, prices in March were up 1.6 percent in the 20-city index before seasonal adjustments. After adjusting for seasonality, the 20-city index rose 0.3 percent. All major metro markets saw month-over-month price increases. The Case-Shiller 10-city index rose 8.2 percent year-over-year in March, up from 8.1 percent in February. On a month-to-month basis, the unadjusted index rose 1.6 percent, and the adjusted index rose 0.5 percent. The median price of a previously owned home was $392,900 in March. The median price of a newly built home was $439,500.
And what's one of the main drivers of housing costs going up? Biden's pandemic spending from 2021? Or, could it be significant labor shortages in the construction market? I'll go with the latter, since we're short about 500,000 people working construction according to the linked article. Another question. What would happen if Trump were to be elected and he accomplished what he wants and deports all undocumented immigrants? Well, considering 23% of current construction workers are undocumented, it would make the labor shortage significantly worse! And what would that do to prices?
Can we just be honest and if the opposite had been true you'd be here posting "home prices plummeting thanks to Biden."
It is building cost going up. Labor cost has not been the big problem it is material cost and availability that has driven the cost up the most. The cost of materials needed to build have gone through the roof in the last 3 years.
Material costs shot up post COVID, for sure. But it's been stabilizing the last 12 plus months, and falling in some areas. The blue line shows YOY, and when it drops below zero, that means costs are falling. Meanwhile, there are significant labor shortages that persists in construction. And unless we do something now, it's likely to get worse, as many older construction workers are planning to retire in the next decade, and aren't being replaced.
Considering that the Hispanic workers on my jobsite are some of the best at their craft that I've seen, I'd be ok with more. Particularly in masonry, drywall and framing and roofing.
[have no preference.....QUOTE="mdgator05, post: 16517971, member: 17555"]So, best case scenario, would you prefer housing prices to go up, down, or stay the same?[/QUOTE]
Also there is no such thing as prices being too high. If they were no one would buy a home. The fact that prices are high suggests people can afford to buy homes. If we want the government involved in home building I am open to listen.
Fewer young people can and renters are paying higher rates as well. Many that do pay the higher prices are having to do without other things also.
All part of the greatest wealth transfer in modern history. Whether it’s Biden’s fault or not, it happened on his watch. He owns it and he will lose his job over it, among other things. It is extremely difficult for young couples to enter the housing market. It was comparatively much easier to buy a house when Trump was president. I mean, we can argue about it all day long, but thems the facts.