The US housing market has changed dramatically since the pandemic - an issue looming over the election.

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The median home sale price in the US has jumped by nearly 30% since the end of 2019, hitting $420,000 this spring.

At a time of rising property values globally, the leap has been one of the most dramatic in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund.

And that’s not factoring in the added costs from higher interest rates, which now stand at roughly 7% for the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage that is typical in the US, up from about 3% in 2020.

Homebuyers today need an annual income of more than $100,000 - well above the country’s household median of about $75,000 - to comfortably afford a home in most places in the US, research firms such as Zillow and Bankrate say, and face monthly payments that have roughly doubled in just four years.

  • @disguy_ovahea
    38•7 months ago

    REITs and REOCs aren’t helping by treating the housing market like the stock market. No more than 30% of their sales can occur within four years of purchase, encouraging them to hold properties. With respect to property that consists of land or improvements, the REIT must hold the property for two years for the production of rental income.

    Today, U.S. REITs own nearly $4.5 trillion of gross real estate with public REITs owning $3 trillion in assets. U.S. listed REITs have an equity market capitalization of more than $1.3 trillion. In 2021, REITs paid an estimated $92.3 billion in dividends to shareholders.

    https://www.cielam.com/insights/capturing-the-entire-real-estate-value-chain-reits-reocs-and-their-comparative-analysis

    Their presence in the market doubles in size every four years.

    https://www.yalelawjournal.org/article/a-theory-of-the-reit

    • @PPQ
      33•7 months ago

      I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, necessities for living should not be an investment vehicle!