
In the other age groups, the scars
from the crisis are still quite large. Yet, even though there is a long
way to go, it is nice to see movement in the right direction.
However, there is limit to this
movement, and I think really what we are seeing here is the continued
settlement of American households into the "new normal".
According to the New York Fed, the median FICO score of mortgage borrowers
before the crisis tended to float around 715. During the crisis it moved
to as high as 780, and has generally stayed high - 770 as of the end of 2019.
![]() |
Source: https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc.html |
In fact, an important source of rising homeownership now is probably the work American households are doing to improve their credit. The Fair Isaac Corporation estimates that the average FICO score for the entire market (not just mortgage originations), has moved up from the low in 2009 of under 690 to 706.
![]() |
Source: https://www.fico.com/blogs/age-beauty-credit-worthiness-youth |
The thing is, you know what was an
important factor for that retired couple with the 830 FICO score, paying off
the last few years of their mortgage? In 1995.....they were able to get a
mortgage.
The average rising FICO score and
the tentatively rising homeownership rate reflect the attempts by some
Americans to meet the new more strict norms for owning a home. All else
equal, maybe that is a good thing. It seems like it must be. But,
we should keep in mind that the way we are creating this trend - really the
only way to - is through policies of exclusion. Rules and regulations
that put an extra gatekeeper on the path of the household credit lifecycle.
For some number of households on the
margin, the new standards are within reach, and they have made the effort to
adjust. According to Ethan Dornhelm
at Fair Isaac, this group has driven the increase in FICO scores. Many
households have been intermittently locked out of credit markets. But,
analysis of households that have had continuous use of credit since 2009 shows
that those households have increased their average FICO scores by 29 points.
Account-level
delinquencies down double-digit percentages, substantially lower credit card
utilization, lengthier credit histories, and less credit seeking activity — it
is no surprise that this population has experienced a major improvement in
their FICO® Score.
Those households have delayed
homeownership a bit, but their balance sheets are healthier. And, the
reason that they are engaging in this adjustment is that exclusion makes
returns better. Locking a lot of households out of entry level homebuyer
markets means that entry level homes are a much better deal for those who can
get them.
That is one price of
"macroprudence". It creates a rift between the haves and the
have nots. Marginally better-off Americans get an even
better deal as homeowners, but they have to work at it a bit harder to be
"qualified". Other Americans will be unlikely to clear that
bar, and they end up paying higher rents because when homeownership becomes a
better deal for families, it also becomes a better deal for landlords.
Exclusion raises their rental income.
If this is the new normal, then in
the long-term, homeownership will rise a bit from here, but not back to earlier
norms. Maybe really just a few percentage points lower than they used to
be. Americans that are homeowners will live in somewhat nicer or larger
homes. Or maybe they will bid up the prices of homes in favored
locations. Americans that aren't homeowners will live in somewhat less
nice units, rents will go up over time, and will take a slightly larger portion
of their incomes. This won't be noticeable. It's not like you could
visit a $600,000 home today and then go to an apartment renting for $800 a
month, and then revisit similar places again in 10 years and be hit with
the realization, "Huh, it really seems like the relative amenities of that
apartment have declined by 20% or so compared to the amenities and the rental
value of that nice home." It will just happen, and the newspapers
will just keep printing columns about how
awful it is when "Wall Street is your landlord." We will notice, vaguely, that things just
seem harder for the tenant in that apartment.
There is no magical resting place
where we know we have made the correct set of compromises between prudence and
access. But, one thing to keep in mind when reading those articles about
greedy Wall Street landlords is that access to homeownership isn't important
because of the financial speculation ownership entails. That's as least
as much a cost as an opportunity. What is important about it is that homeowners
are never in those angry articles about greedy landlords. What is
important about it is that our homes have a sacred quality about them, and
when a home has a landlord and a tenant, that sanctity is split. It has
an inherent conflict that cannot be cured.
Set aside those bromides about the
American Dream. Not everyone should be or wants to be a homeowner.
In many dense urban settings, in high-rise apartment buildings,
the inherent conflicts of ownership might even outweigh the inherent conflicts
of tenancy. We shouldn't thrust this choice on Americans.
In an age where some cities have
political regimes that create extremely high home prices, it is easy to start
to think that the important reason that the retired couple has an 830 FICO
score is that they were speculators.
But, really, there are couples like that in St. Louis just as there are
in San Francisco. The couple in St.
Louis may not have gotten the gains of speculation that the couple in San
Francisco did, but they are likely to share a high FICO score. The reason is that for the past 30 years,
they have had the world’s best landlord, who never engaged in a sacred conflict
with them, and who, furthermore, didn’t raise their rent in order to compensate
for the landlord’s portion of that conflict.
As we continue along in the “new
normal”, when you see articles about greedy Wall Street landlords, it is worth
keeping in mind that the conflict they are engaged in isn't a product of
"Wall Street". It is an ageless conflict. And, for
households who must engage in it because, on some margin, we have decided,
through public gatekeepers of credit access, that they must, their
conflict was a public imposition. We have taken something sacred from
them. Maybe, all told, for the best. But, even so, we should acknowledge
our role in their travails. We must
attempt to account for these costs in the quest for public prudence.
If the major cities made it easier
to build more dense housing in and near city centers over the next twenty
years, then the homeownership rate might become even lower than it is now. That would be fantastic, because it would
reflect Americans engaging in voluntary tradeoffs – moving to the city because
of the opportunities and lifestyle it provides, even if it comes with sacred
compromises about control over personal space.
Today, public housing policy is making those voluntary trade-offs more
difficult while simultaneously imposing other involuntary trade-offs.
Until the property zoning constipation is eliminated, I see you very little future for lower-cost housing along the coasts.
ReplyDeleteI Mention you in my latest YouTube. I'm not really happy with my latest YouTube but I got a number of days without posting anything. Do YouTube experts say a guy's got a post if he's going to develop an audience.
DeleteThanks for the shout-out, Ben.
DeleteBut, we are talking about zoning! Mercatus has a whole group devoted to the topic, plus the monetary policy group is supportive of the topic.
Yes, i should devote a future show to Metcatus, and i will. Hats off to you guys.
DeleteBut mention free trade and you will have an avalanche of economists falling all over each other to denounce the slightest wrinkle or deviation from theology. it is taught prominently in all macro courses.
The much larger, and less disputable, structural impediment of property zoning is still very much a sideshow.
Kevin Erdmann is leading the way.
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