Fewer low-income Americans took out mortgages in 2023, study says

Redfin

06/05/2024 15:06

May 6 (Reuters) - 
    Fewer low-income Americans took out mortgage loans last year
than 2020, real estate broker Redfin  RDFN.O  said in a report
on Monday, as steep interest rates make homebuying less
affordable.
    As aggressive rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve have
pushed up the cost of standard 30-year mortgages to more than
7%, existing homeowners have held on to rock-bottom rates from
the pandemic. That has limited the supply of homes for sale and
resulted in higher prices.
    Roughly 20.6% of new mortgages issued last year went to
low-income Americans, down from 23.2% in 2020, bringing that
group's piece of the homebuying pie back to where it was in
2018, according to the report, which analyses Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act (HMDA) data covering purchases of primary homes.
    "Somewhat ironically, the continued strength of the economy
has made it harder to afford a home and widened the real-estate
wealth gap between rich and poor Americans," Redfin Senior
Economist Elijah de la Campa said. 
    The median household income in the HMDA data for low-income
households was $64,000. 

    

    
    

 (Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika
Syamnath)
 ((Kannaki.Deka@thomsonreuters.com;))