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Kirk Larsen's avatar

You state: "homebuying conditions should be better, if not great, by the end of 2026"...can you explain why it should be better?

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Zack Fritz's avatar

Yep, what Nikki said. We also had more new homes completed in 2024 and 2025 than during any two year period since 2006-07, and existing home inventory has risen to the highest level since before the pandemic.

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Nikki M Finlay, PhD's avatar

Interest rates should be lower and housing prices are not rising as fast as they were.

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Kirk Larsen's avatar

Does the national debt have an impact with interest rates?

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Nikki M Finlay, PhD's avatar

Yes! When you want a loan, you’re competing against many others who want loans, including the government. Anytime there are more buyers, demand goes up and so do prices. In this case, more competition for loans will drive up the price of money, AKA the inflation rate.

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Jake's avatar

I really enjoyed this. As someone who as worked in corporate America for much of my adult life, I have found the current housing market and economy to be disenchanting. The American model has always been, go to school, work hard, save your money and economic prosperity will follow. That feels increasingly out of reach for myself and a lot of the people I grew up with. Happy to see a perspective that we’ve been down this road before and perhaps there are greener pastures ahead.

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Nikki M Finlay, PhD's avatar

Or ask those of us who were young adults in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Finding a job: hard. Housing affordability: the pits. Inflation: high.

As the last of the Boomers, it felt like we missed all the good times. And yet we managed. We got jobs, we bought houses, and inflation, while still high, receded.

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