Is This the Last Affordable Spring Home Buying Season?

The latest real estate headlines are abuzz with news of low-interest rates. The number of home buyers continues to grow as people attempt to take advantage of the excellent interest rates.  A new report from the National Association of Realtors indicates that people who buy a home this year should consider themselves lucky as affordability is expected to worsen in the coming years. Although still lower than last year, interest rates are not expected to decline much further, barring any unexpected policy shifts from the Federal Reserve in response to unforeseen changes in the global economy. Interest rates are also not projected to increase. As interest rates stabilize, this spring’s home buying season might be the last opportunity to take advantage of increases to home affordability. With stabilizing interest rates, only income growth or increased construction of affordable homes can provide continued increases to home affordability. However, income growth has historically failed to keep up with home price growth and home builders have yet to reach normal levels of building activity, despite recent optimism.

https://www.realtor.com/research/q4-2019-affordability-report/