August 28, 2010
That’s what NYT columnist Joe Nocera is apparently worried about. That doesn’t quite fit the data. The Census Department data show that rental vacancy rates are at record highs.
The article also claims that many otherwise creditworthy borrowers are unable to get mortgages. This is inconsistent with the Mortgage Bankers Association data on mortgage applications. This series shows applications going through the floor since the end of the first-time buyers tax credit in May. (That is why people who follow the housing market were not surprised by the plunge in sales reported for July.)
If creditworthy borrowers were finding it difficult to get mortgages then it would be expected that the number of applications would be rising sharply relative to the number of sales, since many buyers would have to make multiple applications to get a mortgage and some would make several applications and still not get a mortgage.
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