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We're becoming a nation of renters... So long as people can pay the rent, nobody seems to mind.
Over the past 50 years the median home ownership rate has been 64.8% It peaked at about 69% in 2004 when some fools decided we didn't need to look at income carefully before we qualified people for mortgages, so it has dropped from that peak.
Nevertheless, it hardly seems that a drop to 63% is making us a "nation of renters."
The lending that precipitated the credit crisis and then the Great Recession had nothing to do with supporting home ownership rates. It had to do with supporting the harvest of huge profits and bonuses that unregulated cowboy capitalists had been reaping, even if that meant creating a bunch of unsound notes that plainly would fail once interest rates began to rise.
Keep in mind as well that a hefty chunk of this market abuse was in refi's. Refi's do not create new homeowners.
My husband and I are over 35 with small children and a modest income. It is a pipe dream for us to own a home.
It seems like a couple generations ago, 1950's for example, people with a modest income could buy a modest home in a reasonable area. Today, we have 2 choices: live in the ghetto, or make at least twice as much money to buy a "normal" house in a snooty neighborhood. There is no in-between, and it seems like there used to be. And then you have greedy flippers snatching up houses that might be within reach to people like us who just want to raise a family in a reasonably safe area.
My husband and I are over 35 with small children and a modest income. It is a pipe dream for us to own a home.
It seems like a couple generations ago, 1950's for example, people with a modest income could buy a modest home in a reasonable area. Today, we have 2 choices: live in the ghetto, or make at least twice as much money to buy a "normal" house in a snooty neighborhood. There is no in-between, and it seems like there used to be. And then you have greedy flippers snatching up houses that might be within reach to people like us who just want to raise a family in a reasonably safe area.
It varies greatly for one metro area to another, why are you generalizing so much?
The credit standards to get a mortgage are still fairly tight, and with people clustering in urban areas where rates of appreciation are making it difficult for the common person to afford a mortgage, I think this is a sad development for the American dream.
You also have to consider that marriage is being put off more and more. Much of the housing stock is just not well-fit for singles who don't have a lot of money to burn.
What on Earth do you mean by "sustainable"? If it is constrained, then any significant increase is limited to the short term, mathematically. C'mon now.
I already told you. If income rises at 2% above inflation (as it did from the 1820s to the 1970s), then the price of housing can rise at 2% above inflation forever.
Also, there can be an upward shift in the % spent on housing. Say 25% to 50%. This can be sustainable also.
My husband and I are over 35 with small children and a modest income. It is a pipe dream for us to own a home.
It seems like a couple generations ago, 1950's for example, people with a modest income could buy a modest home in a reasonable area. Today, we have 2 choices: live in the ghetto, or make at least twice as much money to buy a "normal" house in a snooty neighborhood. There is no in-between, and it seems like there used to be. And then you have greedy flippers snatching up houses that might be within reach to people like us who just want to raise a family in a reasonably safe area.
You might have to move to states where housing is cheaper and maybe even counties where housing is even cheaper within that state. Certain states like NJ and California it's almost impossible to find an inexpensive home. In parts of Florida you can find a home for under $75,000 and in other southern states.
You also have to consider that marriage is being put off more and more. Much of the housing stock is just not well-fit for singles who don't have a lot of money to burn.
This is a lot of it. I am single, 29, and make about $60k. I can save "OK" for a downpayment, but having two incomes would be helpful.
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