Home prices skyrocketed during the pandemic-fueled housing boom, and mortgage rates more than doubled not long after, as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to lower inflation that reached a four-decade high about halfway into 2022. It resulted in more than a year of frustration among renters and buyers, as housing affordability deteriorated.
In a recent story, I revisited four current renters and would-be buyers whom I spoke to last year about their struggles finding homes they could afford despite some of them earning more than twice the median household income in their regions.
For one couple who previously lived in Los Angeles, the thought of ever owning a home in the city was more of a joke than reality, despite them making over $200,000 annually. They’re still renting, just not in Los Angeles; they moved to New Orleans, in part because it’s cheaper and haven’t given up hope on buying a home.
Another couple, Jacob Fuerst and his wife, Marti, had owned three previous homes. But during this current housing market, they were locked out, having to resort to renting a home half the size of their last and costing them twice as much.
“I’ve worked my entire life, I’m not asking for the moon,” Jacob told me. “I should be able to afford a house that is big enough for my family… We did all of the things that we were told to do that would make us successful…and I’m looking at my life. I’m a transient without a home and no equity, how does that happen?”
You can read my story here.
