Housing affordability crisis

The National Association of Home Builders and the National Multifamily Housing Council released the results of a survey of multi-family apartment builders and developers across the country in the 4th quarter. They found that regulatory demands imposed by all levels of government add 32.1% on average to the cost of every apartment building in our…

I read an intriguing story in a Builder Magazine newsletter last week about the 6 myths or fallacies that they believe are holding back residential home building. The authors cited the fact that about 3.5 million kids graduate from high school each year and about 500k of them never enroll in a degree granting school…

24 factory-built condos will be added in the Berkeley neighborhood in the 4300 block of Tennyson Street and is called The Kasita on Tennyson. Two small buildings are currently being demolished and a ground floor retail building will be constructed. Then, the developers will use a crane to put the 24 modular condos on top…

Freddie Mac commissioned a survey by Harris Poll of 1,209 multi-family renters from across the country at the end of January. About 67% of all renters say renting is more affordable than owning a home. And 67% of all renters also said they will continue renting for financial reasons, up from 59% 2 years ago.…

The Limited Growth Initiative or #66 has a chance to be on the fall ballot if enough Coloradans sign petitions to put this initiative on the ballot. Here is what this Initiative would do to all 10 Front Range counties— Limit new permits for the total number of all housing units to 1% in both…

Our affordable housing crisis is not just happening in Denver and other major “hip” cities like San Fran, San Jose, Seattle, Portland, Austin, etc. This is also happening in many other cities and states that are NOT “hip” places to move to. I read this story in a Builder Magazine newsletter last week. “Bob Snowden,…

At the SMDRA Statistics Committee we talked last week about mortgage rate trends during each of the last several years. So, I reviewed the average monthly mortgage rates for the last 9 years since the Fed introduced their Zero Interest Rate Policy and I noticed rates peaked in the first quarter 5 times. However, I…

This was the headline in the Denver Post last Tuesday after a report from HSH.com, a mortgage research firm showed that the median price of a home was $414k in the 4th quarter and a borrower needed to make $79,181 to qualify to buy that home with 20% down, assuming that their house payment doesn’t…

In our country’s 150 largest cities, builders completed 395k new apartments in 2017, a whopping 46% increase from 2016 and the highest level seen in 40 years. And luxury, upscale apartments accounted for between 75-80% of the new supply. So, what’s keeping builders from building more affordable apartments? Land, material and labor costs are rising…

Redfin did a survey at the end of last year of 4,000 perspective home buyers and they asked them “If mortgage rates were to rise above 5%, what effect would it have on your home buying plans?” Their answers will surprise you— 27% said they would slow down their search in hopes that rates come…