Your inside source for real estate, development and construction information serving the counties of Mecklenburg, Union & Iredell VOLUME 106 NUMBER 22 ■ MECKTIMES.COM
Part of the
network
TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2022 ■ $2.00
The cost of a mortgage is up 20% since December Page 2
Beacon Partners starts construction on two buildings at Carolina Logistics Park Page 3
Chapter 6, Savi Provisions, Grit Box Fitness round out retail tenants moving into The Line along Charlotte’s Rail Trail Page 4
NOVAK: Save or report co-worker with memory problems? Page 5
ENNICO: Oh, Ben Turpin, Where Art Thou?
As home affordability nears all-time low, borrower behavior changing The Data & Analytics division of Black Knight, Inc. Has released its latest Mortgage Monitor Report, based upon the company’s mortgage, real estate and public records datasets. As home prices and interest rates continue their sharp upward climb, this month’s report revisits the mounting affordability pressures resulting from these competing dynamics. According to Black Knight Data & Analytics President Ben Graboske, though home price appreciation slowed in March -- albeit very slightly -- 30-year mortgage interest rates above 5% have pushed affordability very near its alltime worst level. “After accelerating for the last four months, the rate of annual home price growth actually slowed a bit in March,”
said Graboske. “Still, at 19.9% -- down from an upwardly revised 20.1% in February -- March would have otherwise set yet another record for appreciation. Year-to-date, home prices are already up nearly 6% nationwide with nearly 25% of the nation’s largest markets seeing gains of more than 7% over the last three months alone. With 30-year interest rates hitting 5.11% as of April 21, the impact these price gains have had on home affordability is significant. “As measured by the share of median income required to make the P&I payment on the average-priced home bought with 20% down, U.S. housing was the least affordable ever back in July 2006 when it took 34.1% to make that P&I payment. At the end of February 2022, we were already
at 29.1% -- and both rates and prices have continued to climb since then. As of April 21, that payment-to-income ratio has now climbed all the way to 32.5%, within just 1.6 percentage points of the prior record. In ‘kitchen table’ terms, that equates to a $522 higher average monthly P&I payment -- a 38% increase since January -- with that payment up $790 (+72%) since the start of the pandemic. It won’t take much to push us past 2006 levels either; a 50 basis points jump in 30-year offerings or a 5% rise in home prices would push affordability to its worst level on record. And saying that, we should also keep in mind that they’ve already risen 200 basis points and 5.9% respectively this year.”
PLEASE SEE HOME AFFORDABILITY ON PAGE 4
Page 6
The S&P 500 is in a bear market; here’s what that means Page 7
“Higher mortgage rates were anticipated this year, but the speed of their rise has been breathtaking.” Jeff Tucker, Zillow
Story, page 2
