Home prices are more expensive, interest rates are rising, salaries have stagnated, and Americans are less convinced that now is a good time to buy a home.
According to data from government-backed lender Fannie Mae, 30 percent fewer Americans are confident in the housing market, 24 percent in 2018 down from 54 percent in 2013. Plateauing salaries are one potential contributor cited by MarketWatch, as today's real average wage has the same purchasing power as it did in 1978, and wage gains have gone mostly to the highest-paid workers, per Pew Research. Additionally, home prices continue to rise, outstripping wage growth, and many young Americans are starting to feel they may never be able to afford homeownership, and 78 percent in the Millennials distrust the market as a result of coming of age during the Great Recession.
Owning a home was once a time-honored life milestone. Buying real estate was simply what you did as an adult in America, and for many people Homeownership was the ultimate indicator of life success and social status. But, times have changed. The housing market is far from a perfect science, but there are some trends that could be influencing homeowner behavior and confidence such as: Rising house prices, salary stagnation, generational trends, record high interest rates.
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