“Single family home construction is up across the country.”
Informative post. You say a lot.
How does all you say result in the difficultly for many to buy a home? As an aside, how unaffordable is renting now?
What’s the effect of Boomers selling a larger home and buying a smaller one for cash?
I know another problem in some places is that buying a house that’s not many miles from their job is beyond their means.
I am a lumber broker. So, I tend to be well informed on housing starts/permits nationally and regionally based on the reports my company subscribes to. In addition, I have customers across the country giving me and my associates feedback on their current business.
All that being said, my customers are telling me that single family home construction is still very good. They are also telling me there is no apartment construction.
I AM NOT A REAL ESTATE EXPERT.
Purchasing a new home is tough because many can not afford the down payment. Even if they are double income.
In a lot of markets you will need to put down $100K or more to afford to buy a home.
Renting is unaffordable in most major cities around the country. As an example, my son is 26. He makes right around $100K. He works about 40 miles NW of Boston. He is single.
He shares a town house with another young man. His portion of the rent is $1200/month. IF he rented a one bedroom apartment it would be $1700/month. In Boston a one bedroom apartment is over $2000/month. A two bedroom apartment is over $3000/month.
The issue with most Boomers downsizing is that the smaller house/condo sometimes costs about the same amount that their larger single family home is worth. So, why should you sell?
Unless you can no longer maintain the property. I do not know the tax implications. Ask a CPA.
Your last question is a lifestyle choice. Some people CHOOSE to drive longer to work because they can afford a nicer house in the suburbs or country. The closer you are to Boston, the suburbs tend to be more expensive. Brookline, MA or Sudbury tend to be more expensive than suburbs farther away from the city.
This is becoming less of an issue for a lot of people who work over the internet. The neighbors on either side of me and my daughter all work from home. They log onto the VPN on the internet and do their job sitting on their couch in their jammies. At least my daughter does. They literally could live anywhere in the country with high speed internet. Maybe the world.
This has had a major effect on real estate in more rural areas of the country ever since Covid-19. People were allowed to work from home. So, if there is no reason to dive into LA, why live within commuting distance. Why not move to the mountains or some other place far away.
Tucker Carlson does his podcast from a small town in western Maine. The closest bigger town is Bethel, ME. Which is the home of Sunday River Ski Area. Joe Rogan does his podcast from Austin, TX. These two shows are the largest viewed podcasts in the world. Yet, neither one is done from LA or NYC. Ten years ago this would have been unheard of. Now it is commonplace.
As I mentioned earlier, I am a straight commission lumber broker. I sit on a trading floor with others around me doing the same thing. However, there are people who do my job from their house. In the spare bedroom or den. If I do that, I will not have to commute. Then I may decide to live elsewhere.