Housing Insights
In Fannie Mae's publications series, our analysts explore key trends and data, mining them for insights into market developments and potential outcomes. The authors also engage with industry partners who share their research expertise on robust, in-depth studies. The analyses and other views in these materials represent the views of the author(s) as of the date indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group, Fannie Mae or its management.
Moving to the Country: Unpacking the Persistent Increase in Rural Housing Demand Since the Pandemic
November 8, 2024
The confluence of increased demand for space, opportunities to work remotely, and historically low interest rates during the COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial effect on the geography of housing demand. Although mortgage demand has since cooled due to higher interest rates, the rise in remote work has increased households' willingness to commute farther or even relocate to a different region.
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Fannie Mae Updates Demographic Projections
August 2, 2024
We provide an overview of the methodology and our outlook regarding projected growth in total households, owner households, and renter households over the 2023-2032 time period. In our short-term outlook we project 1.9 million annual growth in the population aged 15- to 100- years old, and that the number of households increases by 1.6 million per year.
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Increasingly Debt-Strapped Consumers Concerned About Rising Housing-Related Costs
July 24, 2024
To better understand housing-related cost challenges facing consumers, we leveraged our National Housing Survey (NHS) in Q4 2023 to ask consumers whether they’d experienced a noticeable increase in housing-related costs in the past year, how concerned they are about these costs, and if they planned to take action to reduce costs. To gain a more holistic sense of their financial situations, we also asked consumers questions about their non-housing finances, including debt levels and their perceived financial resilience.
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Fannie Mae Now Collects First-of-Its-Kind LGBT Data Through National Housing Survey
June 20, 2024
With the introduction of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) identifiers in the National Housing Survey® (NHS), Fannie Mae can now survey consumers who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) regarding their attitudes, intentions, and financial circumstances that pertain to housing and mortgage markets. In this first report, we analyzed data collected in 2023.
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January 11, 2023
Single-family housing was an unintended beneficiary of the pandemic and its associated policy response. During the pandemic, mortgage rates reached historically low levels, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate hovering around 3% though the end of 2021. Despite a low inventory-to-sales ratio during this time period by historical standards, as well as rising home prices, both home sales and purchase mortgage originations reached record highs in 2021. Anecdotal and analytical evidence suggest that the pandemic prompted people to move from smaller housing units in high-density city centers to larger homes in lower-density areas; and this was particularly true of first-time homebuyers. Our researchers studied this phenomenon, and our survey findings illustrate the primacy of financial considerations over the benefits of physical space and location in influencing homebuying behavior during the pandemic.
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The U.S. Housing Shortage from a Local Perspective
October 28, 2022
In this report, Fannie Mae economists examine the contours of housing supply for 75 major U.S. metropolitan markets in a way that might offer clues to addressing the housing supply crisis at the local level.
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Housing Poised to Become Strong Driver of Inflation
June 9, 2021
Despite rapid house price appreciation, due to the way shelter costs are measured, housing has actually helped hold back the recent surge in in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from moving even higher. However, that is soon likely to change as strong house price gains flow into common price measures, likely contributing to an elevated rate of overall inflation through at least 2022.
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COVID-19 Led First-Time Homebuyers to Move Away from Highly Dense City Centers
March 30, 2021
As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the country in 2020, it touched nearly every aspect of the U.S. economy. On a national level, we found that there was a significant movement from high-density zip codes to lower-density zip codes, as well as a significant increase in the share of moves across metro areas.
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Homeowner Mobility and Impediments to Moving Housing Insights
July 10, 2020
Existing homeowner mobility declined sharply prior to the Great Recession and, although it has recovered somewhat in recent years, remains approximately 30 percent below mobility rates observed in the early 2000s.
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The Coming Exodus of Older Homeowners
July 11, 2018
A new Housing Insights from the University of Southern California and Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group analyzes attrition of past generations of older homeowners and uses the findings to project the future cadence of aging-related homeownership exits.
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Baby Boomers Accelerate Their Advance into Free-and-Clear Homeownership
October 5, 2017
This edition of Housing Insights provides a detailed exploration of Baby Boomers’ likelihood of owning their homes outright, investigating whether Boomer homeowners began to extinguish their housing debts more rapidly as the economy emerged from recession.
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Starting to Launch: Millennials Are Leaving Mom and Dad's Basement
April 27, 2017
This edition of Housing Insights analyzes the change in the proportion of young adults residing with parents as the same group of young people grows older and passes from one age group to the next.
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Many Starter Homes Have Shifted from Owner-Occupancy to Rentals
October 18, 2016
The shift in the nation's single-family housing stock from owner-occupancy to rentals during the housing bust and recovery is examined.
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Millennials Have Begun to Play Homeownership Catch-Up
August 10, 2016
Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group examines the young-adult homeownership rate change for both age groups and birth cohorts.
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Don't Be Distracted by the Recent Swings in Household Formation Estimates
June 16, 2016
This edition explores the factors underlying the recent volatility in Housing Vacany Survey (HVS) household growth estimates.
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American Housing Survey Data Shows Changes in Multifamily Supply Unfavorable to Lower-Income Renters
February 11, 2016
Estimates of changes to the stock of multifamily housing in the U.S. are presented.
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Mortgage Lending and Non-Borrower Household Income
February 1, 2016
The population of doubled-up households in the U.S. is significant and growing.
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Could the Long Decline in Young-Adult Homeownership Be Nearing an End?
December 16, 2015
This edition prepares several projection scenarios for young-adult homeownership during the remainder of the decade.
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Struggling Creditworthy Repeat Home Buyers: Mid-Tier FICO Analysis
December 3, 2015
Analysis focuses on the impact of Fannie Mae eligibility changes and finds that the decline in mid-tier lending persists after controlling for eligibility.
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House Price Declines May Be In Store for Some Oil-Producing States: A Repeat of the 1980s?
August 28, 2015
In this edition, projections of cumulative five-year house price growth "drags" caused by prior year’s oil price decline.
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Baby Boomers Are Not Leaving Their Single-Family Homes for Apartments
August 20, 2015
The perception that Baby Boomers are downsizing from their single-family homes is challenged.
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Rent or Own, Young Adults Still Prefer Single-Family Homes
July 1, 2015
Millennials, like their predecessors, have a strong preference for single-family homes.
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October 4, 2014
In the wake of the housing crisis, there has been much focus on private capital and its role in the mortgage market.
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September 30, 2014
Newly released data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) shows that two key metrics of housing demand continued to decline for young adults.
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August 25, 2014
This edition explores how the homeownership rate gap has changed during the past 10 years.
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August 18, 2014
Social, demographic, and economic shifts have contributed to young adults’ declining homeownership
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Are Aging Baby Boomers Abandoning the Single-Family Nest?
June 12, 2014
Popular perception holds that Baby Boomers have begun to alter their housing consumption as they exit their childrearing years and approach retirement.
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Second Homes: Recovery Post Financial Crisis
April 7, 2014
Historically, most mortgage origination volume comes from traditional purchase and refinance mortgages on primary residences.
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January 9, 2014
Steady, but tepid, job growth has been a hallmark of the current economic recovery.
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An Uneven Recovery in Household Wealth
December 9, 2013
This edition investigates how the current recovery in household wealth compares to previous cycles.
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Deconsolidation in the Primary Mortgage Market: A Temporary or Structural Trend?
December 5, 2013
For many years, concentration in the U.S. primary mortgage market grew at a largely uninterrupted pace.
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Homeownership Rate Continues to Drop, But Housing Affordability Improves Substantially
October 3, 2013
By most measures, 2012 was a year of recovery in the housing market.
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Is the Development and Design of Multifamily Rental Housing In Line with Recent Trends?
September 16, 2013
Renter household formation has outpaced owner household growth during the past few years spurring an increase in multifamily construction.
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Projected Slowdown in Labor Force Growth Suggests Weaker Future Housing Activity
August 15, 2013
An examination of the correlation between housing production and labor force growth and its affects on housing demand and homebuilding activity.
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Immigrant Homeowners Hit Hard During the Housing Collapse, but Experience Varies by Country of Birth
July 24, 2013
Immigrants are key to the rate of workforce growth and will have important effects on housing markets going forward.
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Manufactured Homes: A Shrinking Source of Low-Cost Housing
June 27, 2013
A revival of manufactured housing production faces many obstacles.
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May 6, 2013
How many jobs will be created by the homebuilding rebound?
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November 15, 2012
The housing bust and Great Recession have changed the supply and demand landscape of the housing market.
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Stuck in the Great Recession's Income Slump: Sluggish Job Earnings Impede an Economic Expansion
September 12, 2012
Recovery from the Great Recession has been very slow, hindered by sluggish consumer spending and income growth.
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Housing the Nation’s Burgeoning Older Elderly Population
June 15, 2012
Insights into the size, disability characteristics, and housing consumption of the nation's seniors.
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May 7, 2012
Recent rental market changes also have included a rise in the proportion of renters with housing affordability problems.
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Single-Family Rental Housing – The Fastest Growing Component of the Rental Market
March 16, 2012
We begin to uncover details of a market that has been the subject of little research, yet has had a significant impact on the economy and housing market.
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Inaugural Fannie Mae Data Note Examines Falling Homeownership Rates
October 10, 2011
The overall homeownership rate declined by about a percentage point between 2000 and 2010.
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