Americans are living through the toughest housing market in a generation and, for some young people, the quintessential dream of owning a home is slipping away.
Mortgage rates surged in recent years, hitting the highest levels in more than two decades last fall. While rates have come down slightly since then, home prices remain painfully elevated and a limited inventory of housing is still failing to keep up with demand. Such conditions mean that housing has become woefully unaffordable.
Falling mortgage rates in recent weeks have helped, but home prices could remain sticky, according to economists. It’s still a cruddy time to be hunting for a home, but it’s even worse for young, first-time buyers who need to save up for a down payment and build up their credit score during a time when Baby Boomers are refusing to part with their big houses.
The situation isn’t a whole lot better for renters, with rents barely coming down from record highs and half of tenants in that market saying they can’t even afford their payments.
The uneasiness over America’s affordability crisis is captured clearly in surveys and polls, but data that outlines the sentiment specifically among young people is limited.
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The problem is that renting is just pissing money away to the wind, and you are at the mercy of your landlord as far as how acceptable and affordable your situation is over time.
Renting is fine if you are looking to stabilize and (hopefully) accrue some savings, but renting anywhere halfway decent is often more expensive than a mortgage is in the same area.
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Renting isn’t sinister. You’re paying for a roof over your head without any large up front investment or maintenance costs. But it should be affordable, and owning should also be affordable. Neither are at the moment.
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I’ve had landlords get pussy about portable AC unit exhaust hoses sticking out of the window. That needs to be banned, and AC needs to be mandatory in new rentals (new builds and new leases on existing housing units.)
Aren’t portable AC units very inefficent?
Yes, espically one hose models, bit sometimes that’s all you can use
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Renting isn’t bad. Being a landlord is bad.
It’s completely insane that rent is more than a mortgage.
If you live with someone and pay towards their mortgage, you can rightfully claim a share in the equity of their house. Yet, if you rent somewhere and pay your landlord’s entire mortgage, and then some, you get nothing.
Renting should be far less than mortgage rates. You get something out of a mortgage - ownership of a property.
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