“2023: Nearly All Homes Unaffordable – The Real Estate Crisis

In what has become an undeniably troubling trend, nearly all of the homes listed for sale in 2023 were unaffordable for most American families, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors. The findings are part of a comprehensive analysis of the housing market in 2023 that reveals an increasingly bleak future for homeownership in the US. The data shows a depressing trajectory for the private housing market, with just three percent of all listings in 2023 falling into an affordable range for a typical American household. This figure is drastically lower than the already-low eight percent rate seen in 2021, which was down from 19 percent the year before. Even more concerning is the widespread nature of the discrepancies across different local markets. In 2019, some areas in the country saw affordable housing listings of more than 30 percent, while most never reached even 10 percent. By 2023, however, the prospects of finding any type of affordable housing had all but disappeared in virtually every region. The lack of affordable housing is largely blocking potential first-time buyers from entering the market and stifling growth in what has traditionally been a reliable indicator of a healthy economy. In addition, a sizable gap between supply and demand is driving up rental costs, exacerbating the problem for those unable to purchase their own home. In response to the dire situation, a number of organizations are calling for serious reform and policy changes to address the crisis. Some initiatives being discussed include stronger efforts to build more housing, steep cuts to property taxes, and greater incentives for developers. The results of the National Association of Realtors’ report confirm what many have long suspected—that the housing market is in dire straits and dangerously undersupplied. Hopefully, the findings will be a wake-up call and prompt some much-needed change in the near future. In what has become an undeniably troubling trend, nearly all of the homes listed for sale in 2023 were unaffordable for most American families, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors. The findings are part of a comprehensive analysis of the housing market in 2023 that reveals an increasingly bleak future for homeownership in the US. The data shows a depressing trajectory for the private housing market, with just three percent of all listings in 2023 falling into an affordable range for a typical American household. This figure is drastically lower than the already-low eight percent rate seen in 2021, which was down from 19 percent the year before. Even more concerning is the widespread nature of the discrepancies across different local markets. In 2019, some areas in the country saw affordable housing listings of more than 30 percent, while most never reached even 10 percent. By 2023, however, the prospects of finding any type of affordable housing had all but disappeared in virtually every region. The lack of affordable housing is largely blocking potential first-time buyers from entering the market and stifling growth in what has traditionally been a reliable indicator of a healthy economy. In addition, a sizable gap between supply and demand is driving up rental costs, exacerbating the problem for those unable to purchase their own home. In response to the dire situation, a number of organizations are calling for serious reform and policy changes to address the crisis. Some initiatives being discussed include stronger efforts to build more housing, steep cuts to property taxes, and greater incentives for developers. The results of the National Association of Realtors’ report confirm what many have long suspected—that the housing market is in dire straits and dangerously undersupplied. Hopefully, the findings will be a wake-up call and prompt some much-needed change in the near future.