More than 4 million homes short in the US: analysis

(The Hill) – According to one study, the number of Americans who want to move themselves in 2021 will outnumber the available housing by almost 2 to 1. new report.

About 8 million individuals and families were living in someone else’s home in 2021, with only 3.7 million homes being rented or sold, a deficit of 4.3 million, Zillow revealed on Friday. is said to remain.

“The U.S. housing market is like a high-stakes version of the game of chairs,” said Orphe Divounguy, senior economist at Zillow, in a news release.

“There simply aren’t enough homes for millions of people. It will get worse over time,” he added.

Zillow’s analysis notes that the crisis has hit low-income households hardest, with 68% of this category sharing spaces. And some of the most expensive coastal cities had the highest housing inequality.

Houses become unobtainable due to soaring prices due to pandemic

Housing affordability took a big hit during the pandemic as supply fell short in response to increased demand. Both rents and sales prices have skyrocketed during the pandemic. Last year, the typical rent rose nearly 5% for him, reaching a maximum of $2,048 per month. Meanwhile, the value of a typical home has jumped him to nearly $347,000, Zillow said. the data showed.

On the buy side, the Federal Reserve’s continued efforts to contain inflation have pushed mortgage rates higher, just got worse Affordable price for prospective buyers.

Currently, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are at 6.67%. Freddie Mac Data.

“Homebuyers are watching interest rates closely and are waiting to exit. However, the inventory problem persists as the number of existing homes for sale remains very low,” said Freddie Mac’s chief economist. , Sam Cater said in a statement.

“However, the recent rebound in single-family housing starts is encouraging and will hopefully continue into the summer,” he added.

Construction recovery could help repair market

New construction in May rose 21.7% on an unadjusted basis, beating economists’ expectations of a modest decline.

Housing starts jumped to an annualized rate of 1.63 million last month from 1.34 million in April, according to Census Bureau data released Tuesday. Construction of single-family and multi-family homes increased monthly.

The number of single-family housing starts increased by 18.5% from the April revision to 997,000 units, and the number of building starts of five or more units was 624,000 units.