Dive Brief:
- Some people say the housing recovery is real while others are doubtful, but a top researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas says in a new report that he believes the data show housing is back for at least the near term.
- John V. Duca, a vice president of the bank, said there appears to be a "sustainable" turn-around in home prices that collapsed during the bust, and that is a "necessary condition for the home construction recovery to continue."
- How fast housing grows and what kind of product will sell depends on what happens with the job market, Duca said.
Dive Insight:
Duca does not ignore the rise last year of mortgage rates and house prices, which have caused some to think the recovery is sowing the seeds of its own unsustainability. However, he says that recent readings of the National Association of Home Builders' market index shows affordability is about where it was during the prosperous 1990s.
