On the US—developments on house prices, rent, permits and mortgage:
- A problem for the housing market: People won’t quit their cheap mortgages. Fewer homes are available because homeowners are hanging onto coveted rates of 3 or 4 percent – Washington Post
- The Great Pandemic Mortgage Refinance Boom – New York Fed
- First-Time Buyers Did Not Drive Strong House Price Appreciation in 2021 – New York Fed
- Year-over-Year Decline for Single-Family Permits in March 2023 – NAHB
- US Housing Starts Rise in Sign Home Construction Is Stabilizing. Beginning construction rose 2.2% in April to 1.4 million rate. Gain in one-family homebuilding due to surge in West region – Bloomberg
On the US—other developments:
- US cities must beware the ‘donut effect’. Many of America’s urban centres are struggling to lure workers back post-pandemic, but the suburbs are thriving – FT
- Central Bank Communication and House Price Expectations – NBER
- Income Gains and the Geography of the US Home Ownership Boom, 1940 to 1960 – NBER
- A debt ceiling default would send the U.S. housing market back into a deep freeze. A debt default is very unlikely, but new scenario projections from Zillow show sales would decrease sharply as mortgage costs balloon – Zillow
- Part 2: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-April – Calculated Risk
- The US city where ‘desert palaces’ are sprouting as affordable homes dwindle – The Guardian
- The Fed Hiked Rates and Housing Is as Broken as Ever. The weird housing market gets weirder. – Bloomberg
- 3rd Look at Local Housing Markets in April – Calculated Risk
- Coastal Cities Priced Out Low-Wage Workers. Now College Graduates Are Leaving, Too. – New York Times
- Economists Hate Rent Control. Here’s Why They’re Wrong. Half of Americans, namely homeowners, already have rent control. It’s time to expand it to everyone. – The American Prospect
- Lawler: Early Read on Existing Home Sales in April. Distribution of Interest Rates on First-Liens Mortgages Outstanding – Calculated Risk
- April Housing Starts: Near Record Multi-Family Under Construction. Housing Starts at 1.401 million Annual Rate in April – Calculated Risk
- 4th Look at Local Markets in April. Expect the NAR to Report Sales of around 4.33 million for April – Calculated Risk
- Seven of 10 Riskiest US Climate Locations Are Appreciating Faster than National Rate. Exploring climate change risks on the housing market with CoreLogic Climate Risk Analytics as a guide – CoreLogic
- NAHB Debuts New Index for Multifamily Activity – NAHB
- NAR: Existing-Home Sales Decreased to 4.28 million SAAR in April; Median Prices Declined 1.7% YoY. Record Low for Not Seasonally Adjusted Sales in April – Calculated Risk
On China:
- China Housing Rebound Fizzling Shows Risks to Economic Recovery. High-frequency data suggests a short-lived housing recovery. Waning property recovery may limit China’s growth this year – Bloomberg
- China’s Home-Price Growth Slows as Housing Rebound Fizzles. Prices of new homes rose 0.32% in April, slowing from 0.44%. Adds to signs that the property recovery is weakening – Bloomberg
- China’s developers keep their investment powder dry even as home sales improved in the first 4 months of 2023 – South China Morning Post
On other countries:
- [Australia] Going halves: are shared equity schemes the answer in Australia’s pricey property market? – The Guardian
- [Australia] The great divide: even if millennials could afford a home, there aren’t enough to buy. The affordability gulf between Australia’s generations is due to demographic luck and policy decisions. But the crux of the problem is supply – The Guardian
- [Austria] Vienna Becomes Epicenter of Europe’s Housing Woes. Bloomberg’s housing tracker shows the Austrian capital is showing some of the steepest declines in Europe – Bloomberg
- [Canada] Canada housing market upturn could delay shift to BoC rate cuts – Reuters
- [Korea] S. Korean house prices fall in April for 11th straight month – Reuters
- [Turkey] Istanbul Gets Caught Between Housing Crunch and Earthquake Risk. Soaring housing prices and political squabbling in Turkey’s largest city are hampering efforts to rebuild unstable homes. – Bloomberg
- [United Kingdom] Renters’ reform must close loopholes for unfair evictions, campaigners say. Experts warn Michael Gove lack of detail would allow landlords to circumvent legal overhaul – The Guardian