Dive Brief:

• Economists speaking at a National Association of Realtors convention said a recovery that still has not fully reached the middle class, low home inventory and a belief among buyers 25-34 years old that they cannot amass large enough down payments all are keeping current housing growth below par.
• Lawrence Yun, the association's chief economist, said the U.S. population is growing faster than jobs are, so "Main Street America does not fully feel the recovery."
• The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University's managing director, Eric Belsky, said household growth in the country has fallen recently, also slowing home purchasing.

Dive Insight:

Yun, Belsky and Dennis McGill, director of research for Zelman & Associates, told the group they expect the various indicators will improve, some in 2015 and some through the rest of the decade. None indicated that major steps forward will happen through the rest of this year, however. McGill said his firm projects housing starts from now through 2019 will average 1.9 million per year. Tight credit standards got more of the recovery-slowing blame that has been heaped on them throughout the home-building industry.