Low-Income Homebuyers Lose Ground Gained in Low-Interest Era

Charlotte, NC, May 14, 2024-"Many low-income homebuyers were able to take advantage of historically low mortgage rates during the Covid era, increasing their share of the total mortgage market to 23.2%,” reports Truist.

“However, only 20.6% of new mortgages in 2023 went to low-income borrowers. This is in-line with the group's share in 2018, and lower than in 2019, meaning that the group has now lost more than all the progress made during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the opposite trend has been true for high-income buyers. High-income buyers have now regained the share they had of the mortgage market in 2018, now at 44.8% of new mortgages, following steady increases after the 2020 lows. The median home price today is up nearly 40% since the beginning of the pandemic, mortgage rates are up about 450 basis point from their lows in 2021, and the typical homebuyers monthly payment is up roughly 90% from March 2019 and March 2020 levels.”