Tag Archives: Debt-to-Income Ratio

A combination of “inflation, high prices, soaring mortgage rates, and low housing supply caused 2023 to go down as the least affordable year for housing in recent history,” said Redfin Senior Economist Elijah de la Campa.

"The dynamics influencing the U.S. housing market appear to continuously work against everyday Americans, potentially to the point where they could start to have a significant impact on home prices," said Rob Barber, CEO for ATTOM.

"High incomes and homeownership gains may overshadow the significant housing affordability challenges still faced by many AAPI households," concluded Nicole Bachaud, Senior Economist at Zillow.

While rates continue to hover at record lows, a rise in economic and financial market uncertainties, competition remains high for tight inventory as affordability issues linger.

Loan risk in the mortgage market slid down again in July but remained far above safe levels, according to the latest measure from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). The group reported that 11.41 percent of home purchase loans measured in its National Mortgage Risk Index (NMRI) would be at serious risk under "severely stressed" economic conditions.

As home prices continue to rise—albeit slower than last year—many commentators insist that fears of a new bubble in the making are overblown. However, a new survey released Tuesday suggests lenders aren't buying it. In a survey of U.S. and Canadian mortgage lenders, FICO found 56 percent of respondents directly involved in the industry are concerned that "an unsustainable real estate bubble is inflating."

AEI's National Mortgage Risk Index (NMRI), released monthly through the institute's International Center on Housing Risk, registered 11.87 percent for May, down from April's revised reading. The institute considers any index value below 6 percent as "indicative of conditions conducive to a stable market." The index acts as a stress test, measuring the percentage of loans at risk of default in the event of another economic crisis.