Nearly half of FHA buyers needed down-payment help last year — a record.
When 42% of government-backed home buyers can't scrape together a down payment on their own, that's not a hot housing market. That's a broken one.
Housing affordability isn't a temporary blip or a rate problem. It's structural. Prices detached from incomes, wages lagging asset inflation, and an entire generation priced out unless someone else chips in.
The American Dream used to mean saving up and buying a home. Now it means hoping for a grant, a gift, or a program just to get in the door.
This is what happens when asset prices inflate faster than earnings for decades. Eventually, the math stops working for regular people.
When 42% of government-backed home buyers can't scrape together a down payment on their own, that's not a hot housing market. That's a broken one.
Housing affordability isn't a temporary blip or a rate problem. It's structural. Prices detached from incomes, wages lagging asset inflation, and an entire generation priced out unless someone else chips in.
The American Dream used to mean saving up and buying a home. Now it means hoping for a grant, a gift, or a program just to get in the door.
This is what happens when asset prices inflate faster than earnings for decades. Eventually, the math stops working for regular people.