HOUSINGNEWS REPORT
2018 and Beyond MY TAKE BY INGO WINZER FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, LOCAL MARKET MONITOR
If You Read No Further In 2018 we will see a number of markets where home prices climb into bubble territory. Renting will continue to be a popular option. And while some markets will have strong growth, a much larger number will grow at a very modest rate. Fallout from the Crash The big real estate crash that began in 2008 revealed several fundamental weaknesses of the U.S. economy and, more immediately, the real estate markets.
Before the crash it seemed that more Americans were able to buy into the home-owning middle class. For years government policies had encouraged homeownership, through direct government programs, though pressure on banks to expand lending, and by encouraging the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low. These policies bore fruit: the homeownership rate rose from 64 percent in the 1980s and 1990s to almost 70 percent in 2005.
greater wealth for most American families. From 1990 to 2005, home prices more than doubled, while inflation was just half that. The equity people had in their home — for most, their biggest investment — grew steadily. And the real estate sector created a ton of new jobs — an increase of 2 million from 1990 to 2005 — that provided a good income for construction workers, lenders and Realtors.
At the same time, the steady rise in home prices seemed to create
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JANUARY 2018 | ATTOM DATA SOLUTIONS
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