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Homeownership Hesitation? The Housing Market Stalls
The warmer weather shouldn’t bring cold feet; but it looks like home shoppers are having second thoughts.
Although mortgage rates have been relatively low, they’re paired with rising home prices – which doesn’t make it any easier on a first-time homebuyer.
For the first time in more than two years, homeownership in the U.S. has dropped, falling to 64.2% in the first quarter of 2019 from 64.8% in the fourth quarter of 2018.
With higher home prices and lower housing inventories, comes a dip in homeownership.
When you consider younger homebuyers being the current major force with purchasing homes, it might make a little more sense as to why there has been a sudden decline. Joel Kan, Associate Vice President of Economic and industry Forecasting at the Mortgage Bankers Association, explains, “the first-quarter drop in the homeownership rate is a temporary blip […] millennials are going to be in tighter financial circumstances – they are going to be vulnerable to big swings.”
A lot of experts agree that the current trend of lower mortgage rates should help homeowners approach the housing market.