Interactive Map: Where Can Renters Afford to Own?

by Rocio Sanchez-Moyano
Research Assistant

Homebuyer affordability remains near an all-time high, so where are all the first-time homebuyers? According to indexes that incorporate gross measures of house prices, interest rates, and household incomes, affordability remains at unprecedented levels. The National Association of Realtors® index, for instance, shows that the median-income household can afford to buy a home in all but 7 percent of the largest metros. Given that affordability looks good on paper, the lack of first-time homebuyers in all metros has been surprising. In 2013, first-time homebuyers made up 38 percent of home purchases, below the historical average of 40 percent, dating back to 1981. The most recent American Housing Survey shows that 3.3 million households were first-time buyers in 2009-2011, a 22 percent drop from the 2001 survey, which covered 1999-2001. This decline in first-time buyers comes in spite of real mortgage payments for the median home that remain below $800 (levels unprecedented before the recession) and a 7 percentage point decline in the mortgage payment-to-income ratio since 2001.

Affordability indexes typically use median home prices and median incomes to estimate affordability, but it can be difficult to calculate the number of potential first-time buyers from these indexes, as median incomes differ for renters and owners and across age groups. To better estimate affordability for potential first-time homebuyers, the JCHS looked at how many renters in the age group most likely to be first-time homebuyers (25-34) have enough income to afford the costs of owning in different metro areas. Analysis was performed on the top 100 metros by population for which National Association of Realtors® quarterly median existing single-family home price data was available, resulting in 85 metros included in the final analysis. Affordability in this analysis is defined by the maximum debt-to-income ratio established in the Qualified Mortgage (QM) rule that went into effect in January of this year. The median home is considered affordable in this analysis if mortgage payments, with a 5 percent downpayment (more typical for first-time buyers), property taxes and insurance, and non-housing debt payments make up no more than 43 percent of a household’s income (extended metholodogy).

Historically, the majority of first-time buyers are households aged 25-34. Looking at renters in this age group, most would find the monthly costs of homeownership affordable in many metros across the country. Indeed, in 42 of the 85 metros studied, more than half of renters can afford the monthly costs of homeownership. Nearly 30 percent of the 25-34 year old renters in our sample lived in these affordable metros. Only in six metros, concentrated almost exclusively in California, are renter incomes so low compared to house prices that less than 30 percent of renters aged 25-34 can afford the costs of owning.

Click to launch interactive map

So why, given that so many metros are affordable to potential 25-34 year old first-time buyers, has the first-time buyer share remained low? Many demographic and economic forces are constraining the transition to homeownership for renters in their 20s and 30s. The first is the fundamental mismatch between incomes and prices as shown in this analysis. Even in the metros where the majority of renters 25-34 could afford monthly homeowner costs for the median home, more than one-third of renters in this age group cannot. Real renter income for households aged 25-34 remains at some of its lowest levels in more than a decade. The unemployment rate for this age group peaked above 10 percent in 2010 and stayed above 7 percent throughout 2013. Also, as we indicated in our recent State of the Nation's Housing report, an additional 2.4 million households in their 20s and 30s were living with their parents in 2013 (than if the share living at home had remained at 2007 levels). Aside from covering monthly homeowner costs, unemployment and income stagnation mean that even in the lowest-cost metros in this analysis, many potential buyers cannot afford at least $5,000 for a 5 percent downpayment. Finally, 39 percent of 25-34 year old households have student loan debt and often allocate a larger share of their monthly income to student loan payments than older households. As the economy improves, however, there should be more willingness and ability by these households to become first-time buyers.

Rental Supply is Catching up with Strong Demand, but not for Affordable Units

by Elizabeth La Jeunesse
Research Assistant

The Joint Center’s new State of the Nation’s Housing report summarizes ongoing and emerging trends in U.S. rental markets.  Foremost among these is the strength of demand for rental housing, which continued to soar in 2013 albeit at a slower pace relative to recent years.  Indeed, from 2005 to 2013, the U.S. saw a net increase of around 740,000 renter households per year.  This far exceeds historical renter household growth of around 410,000 per year on average from the 1960s through the 2000s.

With rental demand soaring, supply of multifamily rental units—which house over 60 percent of all renter households—did not keep up.  In 2009, for example, construction began on just 109,000 multifamily units.  According to apartment data from MPF Research, demand exceeded new additions to supply by nearly 200,000 units during 2010, and by 170,000 units in 2011.  Rental markets tightened as a result of this excess demand.  Rents rose, occupancy rates climbed to 95 percent for professionally managed apartments, and rental property values reached new peaks. 

But as of 2012, supply picked up and demand eased, bringing the two closer in line with each other (see Figure 5, from our report below).  Indeed, that year demand for apartments outpaced supply by only 21,000 units.  Last year the two measures came even closer into alignment.  Completions of new, professionally managed apartment units reached 163,000 in 2013, marginally exceeding the increase in the number of occupied units.  In other words, supply and demand lined up fairly evenly. (Click charts to enlarge.)

Relative equilibrium also became evident in a slight easing of rent pressures.  Indeed, growth in rents for professionally managed units lowered to a still-healthy rate of around 3.0 percent on average in 2013, down from 4.0 percent two years earlier.  Growth in net operating income for owners of large apartments moderated to 3.1 percent in 2013, down from between 6 and 11 percent in 2011-12 according to data from the National Council of Real Estate Fiduciaries.  The annual rate of return on rental property investment likewise lowered to a more modest but sustainable 10.4 percent, about the same as in the ten years preceding the housing bubble and bust (1995-2004).

While supply of multifamily units rebounded at the national level, the story is more varied across metro areas.  In over half of the nation’s largest metro areas, the volume of permits for new multifamily units in 2013 remained below last decade’s average.  For example, previously booming metros including Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta and Phoenix all saw permitting decline by 25 percent or more compared to levels seen between 2000 and 2009 (see Figure 25, from our report) Yet several metros in Texas, as well as Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C. registered growth relative to that boom period.  Demand would need to remain strong in such areas to absorb this future supply.

Not all segments of the market are in balance either.  Demand for units affordable to low-income renters and families far exceeds the supply of available units.  An Urban Institute analysis indicates that in 2012, 11.5 million extremely low income households competed for just 3.3 million affordable, available units.  This suggests a supply gap of 8.2 million units needed to house extremely low-income renter households, up from a gap of 5.2 million units ten years earlier.  Lack of affordable, available housing often requires struggling households to pay excessive shares of their income on housing, reducing the money they have left over to buy other goods and services, such as food and healthcare.

As Daryl Carter, Chairman of the National Multifamily Housing Council, pointed out during the webcast release of our new report, greater attention needs to be focused on the types of units being built to ensure that they meet the affordability and sizing needs of today’s renter households. These include not only low income households, but also an increasing number of families with children, a group who saw particularly steep declines in homeownership rates since the Great Recession.  Panelists on the webcast also emphasized the importance of federal rental assistance measures to address the undersupply of affordable units, as well as steps local communities and developers can take.  These include relaxing zoning rules to allow more residential construction and tying affordable housing plans to development projects at the local government level.

What Will Stop the Slide in Homeownership Rates? Keep Your Eye on Incomes.

by Chris Herbert
Research Director

As highlighted in our new State of the Nation’s Housing report, the national homeownership rate declined for the 9^th straight year in 2013 and now stands at its lowest point since 1995 (see Figures 18a and b, from our report, below). The falloff in homeownership has affected a broad range of demographic groups, but has been most severe among those in their late 20s through their early 40s, with their rates down at least 8 percentage points since 2004. In fact, while the overall homeownership rate is still slightly above the pre-boom rate of 64 percent, the share of households age 25-44 owning a home is at its lowest point since annual data became available in the early 1970s. Since these are prime ages for both first-time and trade up homebuyers, this substantial decline in owning has been an important reason for the continued weakness in the housing market.  

Predicting when homeownership rates will stabilize—and possibly turn back up— must begin with an understanding of what’s been driving the downturn.  There are many culprits. The dramatic fall in home values, which decimated housing wealth and forced millions into foreclosure, has made everyone far more aware of the financial risks associated with buying a home. Still, our analysis, and a variety of other surveys, indicate that the majority of young adults want to own a home someday. So changing preferences for owning would not seem to account for such a dramatic falloff in the homeownership rate over such a short period.

The incredible increase in the use of student loans is no doubt also a contributing factor.  Between 2001 and 2010 the share of 25-34 year olds with student loans rose from 26 to 39 percent.  And since 2010 the total amount of student debt outstanding has increased by about 40 percent.  At the same time, however, the median amount owed among 25-34 year olds only rose from $10,000 to $15,000 between 2001 and 2010, which should not be a substantial deterrent to buying a home.  Our analysis also found that the share of these young borrowers with high amounts of debt ($50,000 or more) rose from 5 to 16 percent, but this still a minority of all households in this age group. A recent Brookings Institution report came to a similar conclusion, finding that the median loan payment to income ratio has not exceeded historical levels.  So while mounting student loan debt and increasing delinquency among these borrowers is not the main reason young Americans are deferring homeownership, it is certainly a factor.

Today’s far more restrictive mortgage underwriting standards are another limitation for those looking to buy a home.  The decline in lending to borrowers with credit scores in the 600s has pushed up the average score for new borrowers well into the 700s. Since roughly half of all consumers have credit scores under 700, this is making it hard for many to qualify for mortgages. While there are some indications that lenders are starting to relax their standards, so far there hasn’t been much movement in the average score for borrowers.

But at a fundamental level, it may not be necessary to look much further than trends in household incomes to explain the rise and fall in homeownership over the past two decades.  Median household income for 25-34 year olds and 35-44 year olds grew sharply from 1994 through 2000, during a period when homeownership rates showed steady gains. Growth in homeownership then slowed as incomes softened during the mid-2000s (see Figure 4, from our State of the Nation's Housing report, below).

While many blame lax underwriting for driving the homeownership rate boom, in fact much of the gains occurred during the 1990s when the economy was producing solid income growth. Since 2006, median household incomes have fallen substantially for those 25-44, with the homeownership rate declines mirroring these trends.  In fact, just as the share of households 25-44 owning a home is as its lowest point since the early 1970s, the real median household income for this age group is at its lowest point since 1972. So, while young households are facing a number of headwinds to buying a home, until we see a resumption in income growth we are unlikely to see an upturn in homeownership rates.

Millennials the Key to a Stronger Housing Recovery

The U.S. housing recovery should regain its footing, but also faces a number of challenges, concludes The State of the Nation’s Housing report released today by the Joint Center. Tight credit, still elevated unemployment, and mounting student loan debt among young Americans are moderating growth and keeping millennials and other first-time homebuyers out of the market.

The housing recovery is following the path of the broader economy.  As long as the economy remains on the path of slow, but steady improvement, housing should follow suit.

Although the housing industry saw notable increases in construction, home prices, and sales in 2013, household growth has yet to fully recover from the effects of the recession. Young Americans, saddled with higher-than-ever student loan debt and falling incomes, continue to live with their parents.  Indeed, some 2.1 million more adults in their 20s lived with their parents last year, and student loan balances increased by $114 billion.

Still, given the sheer volume of young adults coming of age, the number of households in their 30s should increase by 2.7 million over the coming decade, which should boost demand for new housing. Ultimately, the large millennial generation will make their presence felt in the owner-occupied market, just as they already have in the rental market, where demand is strong, rents are rising, construction is robust, and property values increased by double digits for the fourth consecutive year in 2013.

One key to realizing the millennials’ potential in the housing market is for the economy to grow to the point where their incomes start to rise. Another important factor is how potential GSE reform will affect the cost and availability of mortgage credit for the next generation of homebuyers, which will be the most diverse in the nation’s history. By 2025, minorities will make up 36 percent of all US households and 46 percent of those aged 25–34, thus accounting for nearly half of the typical first-time homebuyer market.

The report, as well as an interactive map released by the Joint Center, also highlights the ongoing affordability challenge facing the country, as cost burdens remain near record levels and over 35 percent of Americans spend more than 30 percent of their income for housing. The situation is particularly grim for renters, where 50 percent are cost burdened and 28 percent are severely cost burdened (meaning they spend over half of their income for housing).

Click map to launch; may take a few seconds to load.

When available, federal rental subsidies make a significant difference in the quality of life for those struggling the most.  Between 2007 and 2011, the number of Americans eligible for assistance rose by 3.3 million, while the number of assisted housing units was essentially unchanged. Sequestration forced further cuts in housing assistance, which have yet to be reversed.

What Drives the Decision to Rent vs.Own?

By Rachel Bogardus Drew
Guest Blogger

What drives someone's decision about whether to own or rent their home?  Economists tend to focus on financial factors such as user costs and return on investment. Sociologists, on the other hand, generally emphasize lifestyle factors, such as family status and mobility. Overlooked in most prior research on housing tenure (i.e. whether to own or rent) are the effect of individual beliefs about the benefits of homeownership on such decisions. Said another way, how do our expectations of outcomes associated with homeownership influence our desire to own?

My new working paper examines whether the stated beliefs of renters (ages 25-64) about the benefits of homeownership can predict their intentions to purchase a home in the future. Such beliefs include both financial outcomes (investment potential, value versus renting) and lifestyle factors (having control over living space, a better place to raise children) that are commonly associated with homeownership. These beliefs are considered alongside other known determinants of tenure preferences, such as age, race, income, and family status. The analysis also controls for some potential constraints on renters’ tenure options that might sway their intentions, such as their ability to qualify for a mortgage and the amount of financial sacrifice they would need to make to buy a home.

The analysis finds that, while most of the demographic and economic conditions considered are still strongly correlated with intentions to buy a home, they are less predictive than stated beliefs in the benefits of homeownership. Indeed, renters who hold strong beliefs in the financial and lifestyle benefits of owning have between 1.7 and 3.8 times higher odds of wanting to buy in the future, regardless of their individual characteristics (see Figure 1). Perceived constraints on tenure options, meanwhile, are generally unassociated with intentions to buy; renters who report requiring a lot of financial sacrifice to own, for example, are only slightly less likely to expect to buy than those who would need to make only some or not very much sacrifice, but no different from those who don’t have to make any sacrifice to own. Ability to qualify for a mortgage was also insignificant to expectations about future home purchases.

Source: Tabulations of Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey data from 2011 on renters ages 25-64 who expect to move in the future.

Notes: Odds ratios over 1 indicate a greater likelihood of expecting to buy in the future, relative to the excluded group in each category (i.e. white, unmarried, unemployed, 55-64 years old, income under $25,000, debt under $10,000, very positive experience renting, a lot of sacrifice to own, and very difficult to get a mortgage). Bars in grey were not significant (at the 10% level) in the analysis. 

The results of this analysis have important implications for both policy and research on housing tenure. First, they suggest that decisions about homeownership can be biased by beliefs about homeowners, particularly beliefs based on unsupported assumptions about the outcomes realized from the purchase of a home. Policymakers should consider the potential effect of these biases when designing policies that promote and facilitate homeownership, and if necessary take steps to counteract them to improve the efficiency of tenure decisions. Second, these results demonstrate that behavioral factors such as beliefs are significant to individual tenure decisions, and should be included along with other drivers of housing tenure in future studies on this topic. Finally, it should be noted that this analysis is based on survey data collected in 2011, following the recent recession and foreclosure crisis, which may have temporarily skewed views on both the desirability and feasibility of homeownership for some renters. Further research will be needed to assess the enduring effect of beliefs on tenure decisions during the current recovery and potential future housing booms.

Rachel Bogardus Drew is a former research associate at the Joint Center for Housing Studies and recently completed her PhD in Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts.