Latest news with #ClaireBoston
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Shelter inflation is sticky as housing affordability woes persist
Mortgage rates are on the decline, yet shelter remains among the stickiest components of inflation. chief economist Danielle Hale and Yahoo Finance Housing Reporter Claire Boston join Market Catalysts to discuss. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts. Really, shelter has been sticky, as economists like to call it. Um, those shelter costs, even if they're moderating, they've just been sort of persistent here. Um, Claire, what do we see in the numbers for last month? Definitely. So we are still seeing shelter inflation run quite a bit hotter than general inflation. Um, you know, it is coming down. Um, this is kind of the lowest year-of-a-year print, uh, since I believe October of 2021. Um, that being said, you know, housing costs are still rising and, um, you know, I think that that kind of, we talk a lot about affordability. You know, a lot of both renters and potential buyers are still feeling stretched and, you know, their incomes may not be keeping up right now with their housing costs. So Daniel, let's bring you into this. Why has this been happening? Why are these costs, why is that shelter inflation so sticky and so persistent? Well, we had a huge run-up in prices during the pandemic, uh, especially in rents, which really soared. They've softened recently, at least on the asking rent side of things, but if you look at rents more broadly across the economy, so for renters who might be staying in place and renewing, they are in many cases still playing catch up to those significant increases that we saw during the pandemic. So that's why shelter inflation costs tend to lag market rents. The good news is that market rents have actually softened again. Our rental report shows that we've had 24 consecutive months of rent softening as of July, uh, and the rents were down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. So it's, it's a bit of a discount, but again, this is just asking rents. And so, uh, what we're seeing in those broader trends when we examine, uh, the data for all rental units is not quite as much softness yet, but we do expect to see that on the horizon. Now, one sort of caveat or warning is that with the trade uncertainty that we've seen, uh, and the softness that we're seeing in rental data, we're starting to see multi-family construction slow, at least on permits and completions. And so that means that the softness may not last. Uh, but it is there and I do think that's going to help, uh, bring inflation down, uh, as we look in the months ahead, but then we do have this wild card of tariffs, which, which could, uh, lead to some opposite findings. Yes, we do. I mean, and in terms of how people feel about it, they definitely feel that things are unaffordable. Claire, um, we did a Yahoo Finance poll recently that sort of dug into that idea of affordability. Yeah, I mean in general, um, most people are saying that they really feel like the housing market is out of reach for them, um, you know, at current prices. Especially when we look at the purchase side, um, you know, home prices depending on your metro area are up anywhere from 15 to 50%, you know, from those pre-pandemic levels. And that makes it really difficult to, you know, get into this market. It's not just purchase price. It's also that, you know, that 6.6, 6.7% mortgage, uh, you know, that really cuts into your buying power right now. Related Videos Bullish soars in public debut, Amazon delivery, downgraded Perplexity's Google Chrome offer may be a PR stunt aimed at Apple Data Not Supporting a Big Fed Rate Cut, BofA's Cabana Says CoreWeave earnings don't answer the big question bears are asking Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Mortgage rates dip below 6%: What this means for homebuyers
Mortgage rates are falling, with the 15-year rate dropping below 6% for the first time since February, according to the Mortgage Bank Association. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Claire Boston joins Market Catalysts with Julie Hyman to explain what easing rates and slowing shelter costs could mean for buyers. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts. US mortgage rates dropped last week by the most since February. That's according to data from the mortgage bankers association. The rate on the 15-year mortgage fell below 6% for the first time in 4 months, matching its lowest level since October. The news comes as government data showed shelter costs continue to decelerate in July, though they still outpaced overall inflation. Joining me now, Danielle Hale, chief economist, and Yahoo Finance senior housing reporter, Claire Boston. Before we sort of dig into the shelter costs broadly, Claire, I do want to start with you just on this mortgage bankers, the latest rate news, that it is coming down. I imagine this is welcome news for folks who are trying to move, since we have seen those rates so persistently high. Yeah, Julie, you know, anything really helps here since we've pretty much been stuck at this kind of high 6% space for pretty much all of this year. Um, that being said, when I'm looking at this MBA application data, what sticks out to me is that we have not really seen an uptake in purchases yet. So, you know, that suggests to me, um, you know, people who are sitting on the sidelines are not jumping back in with rates a little bit lower. We are seeing refis tick up quite a bit though. So, you know, maybe if you have a 7% or higher mortgage rate, you know, getting a little bit of a drop here is going to entice you to refi, but we'll see kind of what happens in the coming weeks. Related Videos CoreWeave earnings don't answer the big question bears are asking Starbucks turnaround check-in: 1 yr. since CEO shake-up D-Wave CEO talks quantum computing's capabilities & what's next Cava stock plunges on Q2 results: CEO explains what happened Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
June's existing-home sales fell 2.7% & hit record-high price
Existing-home sales fell 2.7% in June, which was more than economists expected, according to fresh data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Claire Boston joins Market Catalysts with Julie Hyman to discuss the details. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts here. We're looking at some new data, just out this morning. It's on existing home sales falling more than expected in June. Here with the numbers and some perspective, we've got senior housing reporter, Claire Boston. So, I'm seeing a decline 2.7% in June, Claire, uh which indeed is worse than estimated. Yeah, Julie. So we were expecting, um, a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 4 million homes sold this year. And uh, as of June, we are at 3.93. So a good bit worse than expected. That being said, you know, not super unexpected, just given what we know about the market. Affordability is super constrained right now, and uh, mortgage rates are still high, and um, you know, I think what we're seeing is that this spring home buying season was pretty much a bust. Existing home sales, they cover a period where, maybe a month or two earlier, things went under contract. So that's like April and May. This is really prime time. We're seeing disappointing numbers. And uh, you know, I'm not sure that a lot is going to change in this market until mortgage rates and potentially prices go lower. Um, it it's also interesting. I know that under supply has been such a big issue, both in the existing and in the new home sales market. And I can't help noticing here total housing inventory actually fell uh compared with May. It is up year over year, but I know that that's something that is sort of a persistent issue here. Right. We are still undersupplied in this country with housing. And I think when you're seeing that inventory fall, what's happening here is that recognition from sellers that this is not a great spring to sell. You know, we are seeing de-listings on the rise. You know, just data saying that, um, people are taking homes off the market, that just makes things even harder for buyers in this environment. You know, especially we talk a lot about the Northeast and the Midwest as being parts of the country where inventory is really, really constrained. And, uh, you know, again, really no relief there right now. And then there are prices, right? Because affordability is yet another piece of this whole thing. Um, the median existing home price, $435,300, which is up 2% year over year, and they say a record high for June. So, no relief there either. Absolutely not. So yeah, that 435,000 figure is actually an all-time record high. And, um, you know, again, I think that's why people are on the sidelines. You know, you have record high prices, you have record high, not record high mortgage rates, but you know, higher than we've seen, you know, historically for a long time. And as a result, you know, those buyers are really constrained. Maybe they want to get into this market, but they really can't. And, um, you know, we are building homes, uh, but not everywhere. Uh, there are places that, you know, you really don't have space to build. And, um, there are places where we're oversupplied with housing. Um, and so, you know, what we're seeing here is just the fact that, you know, nationally we still need more homes to be built. And, um, you know, until we have, you know, that kind of supply and demand balance, we're going to see home prices keep rising, probably. Claire, thank you so much for your perspective. Appreciate it. Thank you. Related Videos Tesla Q2 earnings: 3 things investors will be looking for Meme stock rally heats up: Kohl's stock soars Trump reiterates Powell criticism, Bessent calls for rate cuts Markets are strong, but a 'trigger' could create volatility soon Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The last 3 cities with housing markets median earners can afford
Home prices and mortgage rates remain high, leaving three main US metros affordable for median earners. Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Claire Boston joins Market Catalysts to explain why Saint Louis, Detroit, and Pittsburgh stand out. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts here. As home prices and mortgage rates remain stubbornly high, there are just three metropolitan areas in the US that are affordable for medium income earners. Senior reporter, Claire Boston joins us now with more. So, where are they, Claire? Hi, Julie. So the three remaining places where it's pretty affordable to buy a home is St. Louis, Detroit, and Pittsburgh. So, you know, head to the Midwest or in the case of Pittsburgh, near the Midwest. Um, and what makes these cities affordable is really that the home prices are low. In all of these places, you can buy a home for under $300,000 on average. Household incomes here aren't particularly high. They're about average, you know, I think 70 to $80,000. But if your home cost less than three $300,000, that is still affordable, you know, in terms of spending less than 30% of your pay on that mortgage payment and your insurance. Yeah. So, good news in those places, I guess. And Claire, we saw the 30-year fixed rate mortgage fall for a fifth straight week on Thursday. How much further do they need to fall to unlock more affordability for home buyers? Right. So, it is exciting to see a mortgage rate below 6.7%. It has been a bit of time since we have seen that. That being said, it does not really move the needle at all on affordability. Home prices are just so high on average right now. Uh, we would need to see mortgage rates below 4% before any sort of significant affordability was unlocked here. And, you know, pretty much every expert I talk to says there's no way that's going to happen barring, you know, a catastrophic recession. So, you know, kind of bad news for the housing market right now, at least at these prices. Claire, thank you. Thank you. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pending home sales rose more than expected in May
Pending home sales rose 1.8% in May, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. In the video above, Yahoo Finance Senior Reporter Claire Boston breaks down the report, and Great Hill Capital chairman and managing member Thomas Hayes shares his take on what lies ahead for the housing market. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts here. Pending home sales rose 1.8% in the month of May according to the National Association of realtors. Sales increased 1.1% from a year ago. It follows a 6.3% drop in April, which brought pending home sales to their lowest level since the pandemic. Here to break down the data. We've got Yahoo Finance Senior housing reporter, Clare Boston, Claire. This uptick, is it uh good news for the housing market? Yes, so this is a better than expected report for contract activity here. That being said, as you mentioned, the April numbers were so bad, we are working off of a very, very low base. Um and so I think in terms of what we see from here, um, you know, this was May data, so that is historically kind of the peak of the spring home buying season. And these are not gangbusters numbers. That being said, it does indicate that there's a little bit more activity at least than what we saw, you know, this time last year. And so Claire, earlier this week, new home sales fell to a seven month low, but existing home sales, we saw those actually coming above expectations, remaining roughly flat month over month here. Taking together, what does this tell us about the housing market in totality? Yeah, we're definitely in kind of a weird place in the housing market. When I talk to people about what's happening with new versus existing homes, this is really a substitution effect. Um there's actually inventory on the existing home side this spring. And as a result, um you know, some of those buyers that maybe would have gone for the new home because there was literally nothing to buy, you know, now they're actually able to find an existing home that fits their needs. And you know, as a result we're seeing new home sales weaken, existing homes improving a little bit. Uh you know, it remains to be seen kind of how that supply and demand balances out in the rest of the year, when we're still, you know, short housing units in this country. I want to bring back in Thomas Hayes of Great Hill Capital into the conversation because you did not mince words on the Fed's role within this earlier. So, given what we're seeing transpire within the housing market right now, to what extent is that the Fed, to what extent is that also just a byproduct of people needing to figure out, okay, how much home can they afford, the the affordability issue. And then the number of people that are also just still sitting on their homes because they got locked in at very good rates. Well, that's the problem. I mean, you run rates 200 basis points above above inflation. You have unintended consequences. Number one, unaffordability for the 72 millennials who want to start a family. And number two is all these baby boomers that want to get out of their equity, but they're not going to sell a $2 million house, take out a million dollar equity and then go into a 7% mortgage when they're in a 3% mortgage. So, I think the name of the game this summer is that the SLR is going to bring down the 10-year treasury 30 to 70 basis points. You're going to see 30-year fixed rate go below 6%. And at that level, I think you're going to see a huge amount of inventory. And then you look at the home builders, okay? Who wants to risk capital building massive amounts of starter homes at 7% and have them sit in inventory? They can't make the investment. And and this is the unintended consequence of one guy trying to protect his legacy and not be Arthur Burns. And the conditions of the economy are not, and the demographics are nothing like they were in the 70s. Uh so they've got to move and if they don't move, we're going to get a shadow Fed and that's going to move the market and he can just sit in the desk for seven months until he leaves. I mean, it's not fun being Fed chair Jerome Powell because you are the face of the decisions that a body of people and Fed governors make within that committee. Look. You know what, in fairness, you had autopilot in December 2018. You remember that crashed the S&P 20% until Mnuchin came in and fixed it. You had transitory. So listen, I mean, his legacy is his legacy. He's got a chance to do it right and go out a winner like Seinfeld and he's missing the boat. So he's got July. Let's see what happens in the next few weeks and he can be an absolute champion and help 72 million millennials get their family started and get a new houses. Help the home builders. And by the way, it's 16, housing is 16.2% of GDP. You know how many jobs that creates that are being held up by this artificially restrictive environment? Claire, last word goes to you. What does this mean for the home builders? What are we hearing on that front? Yeah, I mean the builders, we are already seeing seeing them pull back. Um it is very hard for them to make money right now. Their margins are compressing. Um and so, you know, we will have to see. They would love lower rates, obviously. Um and so we'll see what we get. Um that being said, you know, the demand is not there and they're not going to build just for fun. So, you know, they could come back, uh but right now, they they don't really want to kind of stick their neck out and build a whole lot. It's interesting. The one home builder name that was moving higher here on the day, Toll builder or Toll brothers. Yeah. The super luxury end of the home building scale here. Of course, that's it. Which doesn't help the millennials at all. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
