"All kidding aside, until the Fed can get our interest rates down under 4%, we (as a country) are stuck. Why? Wat, way too many existing mortgages in the 2 percent range. To sell your house and lose that bargain basement interest rate and then take on a 5 or 6 percent rate on a different house is a bridge too far for many folks. Result - houses are hard to sell and even harder to buy."
The great American dream. Grow up in a loving home with mom, dad and maybe a sibling or two, go to school, and then graduate, get a job or go to college, and then - move out. Maybe if the prices are right, find a starter home in which to buy and live in. Or not.
These days, more and more economists are using a new term - housing reset. Why and what is that all about? Tried looking for houses these days? The price of a decent house is out of this world, and the financing to buy it is close behind. For many a young folk who are not making some good money, buying a house is only a broken dream. Rent, rent, rent, blah, blah, blah. Or - as weird as this sounds, move back home with mom and dad. Family in tow, move back in the home you grew up in.
The new term of intergenerational household is just that. Either moving into mom and dad's house or having mom and dad move into your house. In Japan intergenerational living is not uncommon at all. Here it is uncommon (for now) but soon may be as common as having a family dog.
I keep teasing my oldest daughter that mom and I are thinking about moving in with them. The thought of that makes her hair turn white - but when the grandies hear of it, they LOVE IT.
All kidding aside, until the Fed can get our interest rates down under 4%, we (as a country) are stuck. Why? Wat, way too many existing mortgages in the 2 percent range. To sell your house and lose that bargain basement interest rate and then take on a 5 or 6 percent rate on a different house is a bridge too far for many folks. Result - houses are hard to sell and even harder to buy.
We live out beyond the suburbs. Nice houses, but not that fancy nice. This past year, we have had two houses sell for just over 1/2 million dollars. They are nice houses, but in no universe would I pay that kind of money for either of those houses. Then to have the interest rates what they are? Yikes!
In our new economy, we need to figure this one out - and fast. My vote has been to develop some tiny homes for singles or seniors to live in. Affordable housing these days is an oxymoron. In other words, there is no such thing. We need to be able to build new houses in a similar neighborhood, some new, very low maintenance tiny homes for under $100k. Without that option, we will be stuck with a slow housing market and more and more intergenerational housing. Just saying...
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