[When it comes to the current state of housing,] there are some signs of a slowdown, but they are very ambiguous signs, ... It's not clear, and it's not overwhelming. |
If you have owned a home over the last five years, in some ways you've been a big winner. Over the last several years it's like having a second job without ever having to work. |
Is it possible that, at the margin, there might be a change? Might there be a restructuring on its use for second homes? Possibly. |
It is unprecedented. It is one more option for people who have fewer and fewer options. |
It would be healthy for the U.S. housing market if the rate of price appreciation slows and gives income growth a chance to catch up to it, like we've seen in areas like Boston, |
Our own sense is that a lot of this (trend) is driven mostly by economics. In certain markets where affordable housing is scarce this is much more common. |
There are government assistance programs, but they have a diminishing influence on the housing market. |
There are parts of the country, particularly the two coasts, where the price of housing has so outstripped any income gains that moderate wage earners find it difficult to find a decent home in the community where they work. |
This is really quite a time. It is a remarkable time, |
We are taking one step forward and two steps back as gentrification in some neighborhoods and continued deterioration in others leads to the removal of vitally needed lower-cost rental housing. |