The Unassuming Economist

On prices, rent, and mortgage:    

• Housing Week Ahead: September Housing Data, Home Prices, Jobs Report – Realtor.com
• Home price shifts across America’s 50 largest metro housing markets. On a regional and local level, there’s a lot of variation. – Fast Company
• New homes now cost less than existing ones in one-third of major markets – Zillow
• Case-Shiller: National House Price Index Up 1.9% year-over-year in July. FHFA House Prices Up 2.6% Year-over-year in July – Calculated Risk
• Freddie Mac House Price Index Increased in August; Up 2.2% Year-over-year. Punta Gorda House Prices Down 18.2% from Recent Peak, Austin Down 15.8%, Cape Coral Down 14.6% – Calculated Risk
• Rising Mortgage Rates and Record Prices Leave Home Buyers Out of Moves. With prices at record highs and inventory locked up, house hunters are left with dwindling financing options – Wall Street Journal

On sales, permits, starts, and supply:     

• New Home Sales Increase to 684,000 Annual Rate in August. Median New Home Price is Down 15% from the Peak due to Change in Mix – Calculated Risk
• New Home Sales Rise as Affordability Challenges Continue – NAHB
• NAHB Remodelers: What the Data Says – NAHB
• Market Share of 5,000+ Sq. Ft. Homes Edges Higher in 2025 – NAHB
• America’s empty bedrooms are up for grabs. A 20th-century backlash banned a popular affordable housing option. It’s now seeing a revival. – Vox
• August Construction Job Openings – NAHB
• High Frequency Data: Purchase Applications Down 14% YoY; Single Family Inventory Increases – Calculated Risk
• AI Exposure Remains Relatively Low Across Most Construction Occupations – NAHB
• Home Flipping Returns Edge Up After Seven Quarters of Decline – ATTOM
• The astonishing gap between America’s fastest- and slowest-building cities. It shouldn’t take five years to build an apartment building. – Vox 

On other developments:    

• Why Did New Homes Stop Getting Bigger? New houses grew for forty years, then began shrinking in 2015 – Home Economics
• As Baby Boomers Age, Housing Demand Faces a Rising Headwind – Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies
• Could Homeownership Reverse the Decline in Birthrates? Researchers looked back at the baby-boom era and found that federal mortgage programs played a part in the country’s population upswing after World War II. – New York Times
• Where Are the Articles About Young People Giving Up on Homeownership? – CEPR
• How did the post-pandemic migration surge affect labor and housing markets? – Brookings
• Portland Real Estate Is Such a Mess That All Housing Is Affordable Housing. Rarely has the Oregon city seen such a narrow price gap between market-rate and affordable units – Wall Street Journal
• US housing crunch puts private equity in midterm campaign crosshairs. FT analysis shows that institutional investors are being blamed for soaring costs – FT
• Down Payments Pick Up But Remain Lower than Previous Year – Realtor.com
• Fannie and Freddie: Single Family Delinquency Rates Increased Slightly in August. Freddie Mac Multi-Family Delinquencies at Highest Rate since Financial Crisis – Calculated Risk
• Where High Rents Drive People Into Poverty. A new study identified 10 locations where higher-than-average housing costs have impacted poverty the most. – New York Times
• The Housing Shortage Is a Major Driver of Poverty. New research identifies states where solving the housing shortage would significantly reduce poverty – Pew
• The Costs of Environmental Land-Use Regulation. Endangered Species Act protections reduced housing construction, including development in already-developed areas, suggesting that better-targeted regulation could increase housing supply while preserving habitat protections. – Cato