Why Are People Not Buying Homes?

A lot of people in the economic community are wondering if the economy will take a "double-dip" in the latter half of this year. Economic numbers have not been strong to this point. Last quarter's GDP number was revised down and the home sales numbers are heading back down. The expiration of the first time homebuyer credit has not helped the housing market, but not many people chose to take advantage of the program after it was extended.

The reason why people are not buying homes is simply they cannot afford them at today's prices. The combination of the homebuyer credit, low mortgage rates, and low prices made homes affordable for many, and those people purchased homes. There still is a tremendous amount of inventory left in the market, yet the remaining people cannot afford homes at these prices. This means prices have to go lower. Although the government has done a great job supporting the housing market, they cannot continue to do so forever. They have already stopped purchases of mortgage backed securities.

Currently, falling prices have made an excellent opportunity for investors who have purchased homes, condos, and multifamily units and have converted them into rental, income producing properties. The Miami condo market is showing strong signs of recovery as low prices have brought in a wave of all-cash international buyers. Unfortunately, these two groups of individuals are not reliant on the mortgage market for their capital, and would gladly like prices to head lower.

In my opinion, the government will not allow a substantial double dip in home prices, as they will continue to find creative ways to support the housing market. One idea that is being thrown around is relaxing some of the requirements to refinance your loan. Presumably if we have looser requirements for a refinance, people will take advantage to get more money in their pockets. Only time will tell with this and other solutions.