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About that Housing Market ...
This blog has featured several articles about Millennials and housing (as well as the below video). With Echo Boomers being one of the largest generations in American history, when they are ready to buy homes, they should create a major demand.
When it comes to Millennials and housing, especially for the future with regards to the political climate, what can we expect? Jed Kolko, a Chief Economist at Trulia, offered excellent observations to these questions.
Who Is Jed Kolko?
Brief Bio (found at About Jed Kolko):Jed Kolko, Chief Economist and Head of Analytics, oversees Trulia's research programs. Applying a background in economic development and research methods, he transforms real estate data, economic trends, and public policy debate into digestible insights for home buyers, sellers and renters. In Jed's prior role as Associate Director and Research Fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, he led research projects and advised policymakers and business leaders on economic, housing and technology policies. Before his work at PPIC, Jed directed Forrester Research's consumer-technology market research, advising corporate executives on technology adoption and demand. Jed has also held positions at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (now FHFA), the World Bank and the Progressive Policy Institute.
Jed earned his A.B. in social studies and his Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University.
You can find him on Twitter.
So, Just Had To Ask ... (Interview)
1. The Millennial generation (approximately born from 1980 to 1995) will be America's next great generation as far as housing is concerned, whether they rent or own. Based on your research, what have you observed about Millennial homeowners at this point in time, or is there any indication that they're interested in home-ownership?
The Millennial generation suffered a worse recession than older adults. The unemployment rate of 25-to-34-year-olds rose higher than the unemployment rate overall and only recently fallen back in line. Many Millennials doubled up or stayed at home with parents rather than entering the housing market on their own as renters or buyers. But they won’t live with their parents forever. As the economy recovers, they’ll enter the housing market: nearly two-third still say that homeownership is part of their American Dream. Buying, though, will be a challenge for many of them: for Millennials, the downpayment remains the biggest obstacle to homeownership, and with rents rising rapidly and student debt hanging over their heads, saving for a downpayment is a challenge.
Editor’s Note:While not Millennials, the New York Times recently featured an article about 4 men with a unique living situation. Some Millennials are doing something similar, like Jessica in 4 strange ways to save money. Similar to Jed's point, these may be temporary strategies to handle the current economic climate. This doesn't mean they won't ever demand homes of their own.
2. According to Case-Shiller (as of April this year), housing prices are on the rise again. Can we expect them to continue to rise, level out, or fall - and what's been helping this increase in prices?
The Trulia Price Monitor – which tracks asking prices – shows that prices have been rising for six months and have been rising in most major housing markets. Job growth, along with declining vacancies and inventories, are pushing prices higher. Job growth means more people are interested and able to buy, and the decline in vacancies and inventories means that buyers are chasing fewer available homes and therefore bidding prices up. A big reason for lower inventories is fewer foreclosed homes on the market. Since foreclosed homes are often at the lower end of the market, first-time buyers will find fewer bargains listed for sale then they would have a year ago. We’ve seen asking prices continue to rise in July, which means sales prices should keep rising at least through the fall.
3. This is for the Millennials out there who question the value of home-ownership - are there any economic arguments in favor of renting as opposed to owning (I know, an unpopular question here in the United States)?
There are good arguments in favor of renting, depending on your situation. Buying a home involves upfront costs, as well as time and effort – which may not be worth it unless you plan to stay in your home at least 5-7 years. Also, renting may make more sense if you are new to a city and aren’t sure which neighborhood is a good fit for you. Finally, in some markets buying is not really cheaper than renting – such as Honolulu and San Francisco, as well as Manhattan – especially if your tax bracket is low and you therefore benefit less from the mortgage interest deduction. Still, with the huge price declines in the past five years, and rising rents, buying is quite affordable relative to renting in most markets, especially in the Midwest and the South.
4. A side question here - but one that will gain increasing amount of attention in the future: is the mortgage tax deduction a good idea from an economic standpoint? Why or why not?
The mortgage interest deduction is politically popular, but one of the few areas of possible bipartisan agreement on tax reform might be to reduce tax deductions – of which the mortgage interest deduction is a major one. On one hand, the housing market is still fragile, and rising prices have real benefits for the economy, so reducing the incentive to buy a home right now could hurt the economic and housing recovery. On the other hand, because of the way the mortgage interest deduction works, it gives a much bigger tax break to richer taxpayers, particularly in geographic areas with higher home prices. Only 30% of taxpayers even itemize their deductions in the first place, so the benefits of the mortgage interest deduction goes to some homeowners and not others. The mortgage interest deduction is – and will remain -- in the crosshairs of two big policy debates: how much should government spend to encourage homeownership, and what’s the fairest and most efficient way to spread those benefits?
