Last year we harnessed BuildZoom’s national building permit database to gain visibility into the spread of U.S. solar power. Using simple back-of-the-envelope calculations we tracked the number of solar power systems in the U.S. and their distribution across regions, and we ranked the largest metro areas by solar power penetration - the estimated number of solar power systems … [Read more...]
Has The Expansion of American Cities Slowed Down?
Key takeaways: * As a whole, U.S. cities maintained a constant pace of outward expansion into rural territory since the 1950s, but behind the facade two groups of thriving cities are behaving very differently. * The first group of cities substantially reduced the pace of outward expansion beginning in the 1970s, channeling its economic strength into higher property values. … [Read more...]
The Growing Homes of First-Time Buyers
A while back I showed that the average income of first-time home buyers has risen since the last decade’s housing boom ended. Rather than indicating an improvement in first-time buyers’ earnings, the finding reflects the increased difficulty of becoming a homeowner in the first place. Whereas mortgage lending was available to people with a broad range of incomes during the … [Read more...]
The Rising Income of First-Time Home Buyers
During the housing boom mortgage lending was available to people with a broad range of incomes. Since the bust, first-time buyers have grown more financially select. During the last decade’s housing boom it became much easier to obtain a mortgage and many people who previously couldn’t buy a home grasped the opportunity. In 2005 the annual number of first time home buyers in … [Read more...]
Why First-Time Buyers Matter For The Housing Market
As the housing recovery progresses, there is growing concern that first-time buyers - often equated with millennials - are buying too few homes. “Too few” in this context means less than the historical norm. Why should this worry us? The obvious reason is that it could indicate that the barriers to homeownership are rising, but when reporters cover the shortage of first-time … [Read more...]