I tweeted this last week but Nick re-tweeted today so it must be pertinent to something. Note his comment section too:
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/07/28/are-home-prices-again-breaking-records-not-really/
An excerpt:
Median prices of new homes have hit records, both in real and nominal terms. This also reflects the mix of sales: Home builders are selling fewer than half as many homes as they were in 2006, when the old records were reached. Instead, they are selling a much larger share of luxury homes with bigger floor plans than before, which has pushed the median price higher and higher.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s repeat-sales index is unit-weighted, so that inexpensive homes sold in Kansas count the same as pricier ones in California. The FHFA index shows prices are around 7% below their prior high, but adjusted for inflation, they’re around 19% lower.
Read full article here:
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/07/28/are-home-prices-again-breaking-records-not-really/
I would be more interested in percentage of net pay dedicated to housing. You know this as “the nut.”.
I’d guess that the average nut is less than half of what it was in 2006, between rates being half as much and the big down payments everyone is using.
Today’s 30-year fixed rate is the same as the neg-am teaser rate was in 2006. It was good for one month.