Average long-term US mortgage rate climbs to 7.09% this week to highest level in more than 20 years
abcnews.go.com
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to its highest level in more than 20 years, grim news for would-be homebuyers already challenged by a housing market that remains competitive due to a dearth of homes for sale.
7% is still considered low by historic data.
7% on $416,000 (national average) is still more money than 16% on $47,200 in 1980....
Adjusted for inflation comparing interest paid for 30 year fixed:
Loan Amount: $185,457 @ 16% - Interest Paid: $720,306 and Total Cost: $905,763
Loan Amount: $416,000 @ 7% - Interest Paid: $580,923 and Total Cost: $996,923
That's closer than I thought actually.
I understand your math but I think the better view would be "what are the monthly payments at each point in time (no inflation) and how many of hours of work per month based on the median income of the time?".
Based on that the 1980 house would have a payment of $731/month. Median income was $21,020, which is about $10.11/hour. So it would take about 72 work hours a month to pay for a home.
The current rates yield a monthly payment of $3,107. Median income is $56,940, which is about $27.37/hour. So now it would take 113.5 hours a month to pay for a home, an increase of almost 57%.
To make it even worse, there are usually only 160 work hours a month, so that means you have to work 71% of a month just to pay for an "average" house and mortgage. I'm not even factoring in taxes or any other expenses.
Rates shouldn't have been so low in the first place. Home loans have basically been free money for the wealthy to acquire houses as assets in a sick fucking get-rich-quick scheme, where the consequences have been no one being able to afford homes. Now all we need is a tax on unoccupied homes.
I am so glad we have a fixed-rate mortgage, but I don't know how we're ever going to be able to afford to move out of this town.
Holy jumpin fuckin jahosafat.
cries in 1980s mortgage
nice. well, bad for some parts of the economy, but good for other parts
No sympathy. Vote away zoning laws if you want to buy a house.
Zoning laws have a small part to play. The biggest issue is the privatization of the housing market. The government needs to get involved in building single family homes.
More people need to take advantage of the USDA home loan program
https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/single-family-housing-programs/single-family-housing-direct-home-loans
We were able to buy our house with 0 down. Our state even has a program where they foot up to 5k in closing costs. We started at 3.875% and refinanced to 2.875 when the rates plummeted a few years later to get rid of the PMI.
That's great if you qualify, but you have to be below a certain income threshold. Not everyone does.
It should be noted that the income threshold varies and is based on your local area.
Yes, it's means treated nonsense that only helps a portion of the people who need help, as designed
Zoning laws absolutely play a huge part. They are the main tool of NIMBYs to prevent new construction of affordable housing.
If you think developers well build housing that is affordable for the average American once zoning laws are changed, I have a bridge to nowhere to sale you. Zoning is an issue but there needs to be a counter balance of none profit based housing. Many modern nations have already switched the bulk of their housing to the nonprofit model and it works! Once zoning is changed Best case scenario is apartment buildings with rent no one can afford. We need more home owners in America. But the whole industry is focused on building rental properties.
I think we are saying the same thing. Even without zoning, now all that would change is chemical plants and dumps popping up around working class communities. Wealthy people will snap up rezoned land close to their houses. The housing crisis goes way deeper than just zoning laws, to the point they are just a tool of many.
The tldr version: zoning was initially used to keep minorities out of areas and was changed into it's current form once the majority of money had already pooled in to too few hands.
The alternative to shitty zoning laws is not abolishing zoning laws, you know?
The alternative is government building single family homes using eminent domain. I'm not saying zoning isn't a issue but places have tried removing them and developers have zero incentive to build affordable housing.
Small part? My city is getting richer and richer while rents are exploding all the while my block is dying because zoning laws won't let any of it be changed.
zoning laws are the biggest single factor in limiting development, housing or otherwise.
When it's literally illegal to build dense housing within 50 miles of a big city it makes a big diffrence
What about the, y'know, lobbying
Your mayor and city council is being lobbied by whom exactly? Who exactly is bankrolling the Faceboot page for Celitus to run for mayor? Why does some corporation have an interest in making sure that abandoned retail locations stay abandoned instead of being converted into condos?
Go to your city's website right now and check out the minutes from the zoning/adjustment board. Show me who has compelling interest in literal anything going on except the local Karens who want to keep POC out.
I appreciate that your overall intended message is "you have the power" but I do actually need to organize with others locally and not just vote
Ok so why mention lobbying? From the strictly capitalist pov the less rules on what can be built where the better so I am not seeing where lobbying factors in. If the owning class had their way they would be building highrise apartments as fast as they could. I don't give a shit about them, I care about us regular folks. I want cheap housing for the masses and if a few assholes make money that way then fine whatever. Let's just get our cheap housing and tax those creeps to death later.
Zoning came about in the US in response to the Civil Rights movement. It was a method of achieving Jim Crow by other means. It was never about neighborhood character or sewage or making sure industry didn't setup next to daycares. It was about keeping the POC out, and it worked.