Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner joins 'Mornings with Maria' to discuss mortgage rates, housing deregulation and the Trump administration's push to promote affordable housing.
A new report on the US houses the industry finds that activity remains low during the first half of the year as higher costs suppress demand.
The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University has issued an annual “State of the Nation's Housing” report On Wednesday, it found that existing home sales remain near their lowest level in three decades, which will be reached for the first time in 2023.
New home sales remained relatively flat, while rental occupancy rates increased and new occupancy decreased. New construction starts fell 1% last year, driven by a 7% decline in single-family starts.
“While the supply shortage remains a major concern, depressed demand has been a concern in housing over the past year,” the report said, noting the slow growth in the number of home owners and the number of renters compared to the previous year.
MEDIAN US HOME PRICE PROJECTED TO HIT 1 BILLION BY 2050 – DUE TO RETIRES.
The household income required to afford a home has nearly doubled since 2020, the report said. (Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
The growth rate of homeownership has halved and caused home owner rates down for the second year in a row. Additionally, the year-over-year increase in the number of employers in the first quarter of 2026 was less than half of what it was a year ago.
Economic uncertainty has moderated housing demand, job growth has slowed from 1.5 million jobs in 2024 to just 116,000 in 2025.
Consumer confidence it fell by more than 20 percent in 2025 and fell sharply in the first half of 2026 due to the Iran war, reaching its lowest level in April.
INVESTMENT VALUES UP, BUT BUYERS SHOW SIGNS OF CONFIDENCE
Housing demand is depressed due to high prices. (Eric Thayer/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
“Without employment, graduates are less likely to build a new house or move to a new region,” said the report. “Without relying on work, families are less likely to move or buy large things like a house.”
High cost and scarcity affordable housing options also contribute to weak demand, as households struggle with high housing prices and interest rates.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN COUNTRIES HOUSING REPORT CARDS: SEE HOW YOURS SCORES
High mortgage rates and a shortage of new properties have pushed down the cost of buying a home and made monthly payments difficult. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The report said median prices for new and existing homes are both above $400,000 and that existing home prices have increased 54% since 2020 and are nearly 5 times the median income – a rate that is more than 3 times the average in the 1990s.
Housing prices are more than 6%, bringing the median home payment to $3,100 in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from $1,700 in early 2020. That pushed the income needed to cover that payment to more than $120,000 — a significant increase from $66,000 in 2020.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
