US Housing View – October 17, 2025

On prices, rent, and mortgage:    

  • Renters deserve credit for paying rent — and Zillow is delivering – Zillow
  • Government Shutdown Disrupts Housing Data—but Relief Is in Sight as Mortgage Rates Hold Steady – Realtor.com   
  • September 2025 Rental Report: Rental Affordability Improved Compared to a Year Ago – Realtor.com
  • A Brief History of Bad Housing-Finance Policy. The 30-year fixed rate, low-down-payment mortgage pays down too slowly for those with weak credit and volatile incomes. – Wall Street Journal


On sales, permits, starts, and supply:    

  • September 2025 Hottest Housing Markets – Realtor.com
  • Number of Homes for Sale Continues To Grow—but Housing Market Moves at a Crawl – Realtor.com
  • Gavin Newsom signs contentious bill to spur housing construction
  • The California governor approved the proposal despite fierce pushback from the Los Angeles mayor and City Council. – Politico
  • California Wants to Make It Easier to Build Housing. Los Angeles Objects. Gov. Newsom Friday signed a bill that will make it easier to build apartment buildings. Some cities fear a loss of control. – Wall Street Journal
  • Squeezing Builders Isn’t the Way to Lower Housing Costs – Bloomberg
  • Cash Is King: Trends in All-Cash Home Sales – Realtor.com
  • Custom Home Building Share Declines in 2024 – NAHB
  • California tries to fix its housing mess. The YIMBY movement wins a big victory – The Economist
  • Builders Stay Cautious as Single-Family Permits Weaken – NAHB
  • Amid Market Challenges, Builder Expectations Rise in October – NAHB
  • Historic California Housing Bill Could Bring More Apartment Buildings Near Transit – Realtor.com
  • Home Sales Profits Up in Third Quarter to Near 50 Percent Margin – ATTOM  
  • Remodeling Expected to Continue Slow but Steady Growth Into Next Year – Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies


On other developments:    

  • How Would A Recession Cascade through Real Estate? – Home Economics
  • Is The Housing Affordability Crisis an Illusion? – Econlib
  • Mapping a Way Out of the US Housing Affordability Crisis. Sara Bronin, founder of the National Zoning Atlas, has won the Heinz Award for her ongoing project to map the land-use rules that restrict housing production. – Bloomberg
  • Where Have All the Young Home Buyers Gone? Check the Stock Market. The rent vs. buy debate has taken on new meaning for Gen Z thanks to soaring share prices and more investment options – Wall Street Journal
  • Bipartisan Bill To Tackle the Housing Crisis Passes the Senate During Government Shutdown – Realtor.com
  • Investor-owned housing helps renters. It is not the infusion of capital from investors that disrupts housing markets; it is local government policies that do not let supply keep up with demand. – Reason
  • The Government Shutdown Is Hitting the Housing Market Hard—and Florida Shows What’s at Stake – Realtor.com
  • Fair Housing Takes Brunt as Trump Begins Mass Firings at HUD – Bloomberg
  • Seattle Tech Workers Are Fueling a Real-Estate Rush in the Cascade Mountains. Workers from Amazon and Microsoft are spending big on homes in Suncadia, an all-season resort in Cle Elum – Wall Street Journal
  • My Husband Thinks Buying a House We Can’t Afford Is Our Ticket to Security. Uh, No? – Slate

Posted by at 5:00 AM

Labels: Global Housing Watch

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