Commentary

“The cooling in home prices that began in June 2022 continued through year end, as December marked the sixth consecutive month of declines for our National Composite Index,” says Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI.

“Buyers responded to better affordability from falling mortgage rates in December and January,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

Tai Christensen of Arrive Home explains why now is the time for the Black community to shift their spending and invest in the American dream of homeownership.

While unemployment and mortgage rates have both dropped recently, unsustainably high consumer spending and inflationary pressures are expected to push the economy into a recession during Q2 of 2023.

According to recent data, the U.S. is short approximately four million housing units, a gap which is only growing, as well as the number of over-burdened renters and owners.

Since the pandemic, the housing market has been tumultuous, to put it lightly. In a new blog post, First American Economist Ksenia Potapov discusses whether this year will follow the same course.

“Real estate experts are predicting a large increase in the number of million-dollar homes across the country. The trend is being driven by an influx of wealthy buyers looking to invest in luxury properties and a steady rise in property values in certain areas,” said Jennifer Spinelli, founder and CEO of Niche Home Buyer.

“Mortgage rates moved up for the second consecutive week,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “The economy is showing signs of resilience, mainly due to consumer spending, and rates are increasing.”

A new report from the American Enterprise Institute found multiple pitfalls in current governmental and GSE data and recommends that they turn their eye to individual appraisers to get a better picture of potential racial bias.

“That said, it’s important to note that while these examples can shed some light on why homeownership rates are relatively low for Black people, they’re not all the reasons why a person who identifies as Black may struggle to become a homeowner,” said Jacob Channel, LendingTree’s Senior Economist.