US Housing View – January 23, 2026

On prices, rent, and mortgage:    

  • Home price forecast for 2026 across 380 housing markets: Zillow versus Moody’s forecast model. The worst of the pain in the housing market might be now and in the next 6 to 9 months. After that, things will begin to feel a little better—but not good. – Fast Company
  • When Housing Policy Becomes Monetary Policy – Cato
  • Real-time house price model shows U.S. housing market firming – Dallas Fed
  • Michelle Tandler on NYC rent control – Marginal Revolution
  • December Mortgage Activity Softens Even as Rates Ease – NAHB
  • Worst Case Housing Needs for Renters Ticked Down, But Remain High – Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies
  • Mapped: How Rent Prices Vary Across Major Cities Worldwide – Visual Capitalist
  • Around Zero, Noise Looks like Signal. Home prices are rising in some ZIPs and falling in others. This is normal in stagnant markets. – Home Economics  
  • House Prices Decline in Local Markets Despite National Growth – NAHB
  • Buying More Affordable than Renting in a Majority of Counties, But Home Prices Rising Faster than Rents – ATTOM  


On sales, permits, starts, and supply:    

  • America’s new land boom isn’t about housing — or even people. Across the U.S., the AI infrastructure boom is quietly rewiring how land is bought, valued, and governed — often before the public has its say – Quartz
  • Commercial Builders Are Losing Their Appetite to Build Anything but Data Centers. Spending on data-center construction is expected to rise by 23% in 2026 – Wall Street Journal
  • Stopping Wall Street from competing with main street homebuyers – The White House
  • Trump Signs Order Targeting Institutional Housing Investors – Bloomberg
  • Trump Outlines Next Steps for Housing Investor Ban. President’s executive order on the issue comes a day before his speech at Davos, where Trump has said he will address housing affordability – Wall Street Journal
  • Curbs on Wall Street landlords could stoke house prices, say investors – Reuters
  • Trump Is Moving to Bar Wall Street Firms From Buying Single-Family Homes. Here’s What That Would Mean for Affordability – Time
  • Trump Says ‘America Will Not Become a Nation of Renters’ as He Touts Restrictions on Investor Homebuyers in Davos Speech – Realtor.com  
  • Remodeling Market Sentiment Strengthens in Fourth Quarter of 2025 – NAHB
  • Builder Sentiment Loses Ground at Start of 2026 – NAHB
  • Building Our Way Out of Our Housing Crisis. Zohran Mamdani should face financial consequences when his ‘warm collectivism’ inevitably results in fewer homes for New Yorkers. – Wall Street Journal
  • The Grocery Store at the Center of San Francisco’s Latest Housing Battle. A proposed apartment tower on top of an iconic Safeway highlights tensions between California’s state and local zoning laws. ‘Why does a large parking lot deserve a view of the water?’ – Wall Street Journal
  • Lower Rates Combined with Strong Economic Growth Needs Housing Supply Growth to Avoid Higher Home Prices – AEI
  • Soft Conditions for Single-Family Built-for-Rent – NAHB
  • New Single-Family Home Size Trends: Third Quarter 2025 – NAHB
  • 3rd Look at Local Housing Markets in December. Altos: Active single-family inventory was up 1.3% week-over-week – Calculated Risk
  • Part 2: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-January 2026 – Calculated Risk
  • Third Quarter 2025 Multifamily Construction Data – NAHB
  • D.R. Horton Posts Lower Profit, Expects Elevated Incentives to Drag Down Second-Quarter Margins. CEO Paul Romanowski says that based on December incentive levels, margins would likely decline in the second quarter – Wall Street Journal
  • Single-Family Permits Cooled in the Fall – NAHB
  • Private Residential Construction Spending Edges Higher in October on Home Improvements – NAHB
  • 40 Million Americans Live Alone – Apollo


On other developments:    

  • The Suburbs are Back. Suburban homes have appreciated faster than urban ones since the pandemic – Home Economics
  • Homeownership Looks Worse When You Measure it Properly. Millennials and Gen Zs lag far behind prior generations – Home Economics
  • Real Estate and Housing Market Outlook – Wharton
  • Trump Administration Floats 401(k) Withdrawals for Down Payment on a Home – Realtor.com
  • Trump housing plan to allow 401(k) money for down payments, adviser says – Reuters
  • Making homes affordable again is easier said than done – Axios
  • Housing Market: Limited Impact from Policy – Morgan Stanley
  • To Make Homes Affordable Again, Someone Has to Lose Out. Young Americans need home prices to fall. Existing owners don’t want to take a hit. – Wall Street Journal
  • The long and winding road to housing legislation – Politico
  • How to Fix the Housing Market – A Wealth of Common Sense
  • Housing Affordability Is Topic A. Just Ask Rival Mortgage Lenders Rocket and UWM. – Barron’s
  • Americans Hit the Brakes on Driving—and It Could Shift the Housing Market in Reverse – Reattor.com 
  • The housing squeeze: Affordability remains out of reach – Axios

Posted by at 5:00 AM

Labels: Global Housing Watch

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