#HomeForAll Podcast: What’s Ahead for Housing in 2027 with Dr. Jessica Lautz

#HomeForAll Podcast, Season 10 Episode 4

ACAR CEO Mike Valerino and VP of Advocacy Jamie McMillen sit down with Dr. Jessica Lautz, Deputy Chief Economist and Vice President of Research at the National Association of REALTORS®, for a look at where housing is headed in 2027. The conversation was recorded over Zoom, with Dr. Lautz joining from Washington, D.C. She is also the keynote speaker at ACAR’s annual meeting on October 1.

Dr. Lautz has been at NAR since 2007, has testified before Congress, and is a go-to source for media outlets on the real estate market. She doesn’t just share the numbers. She explains what’s behind them and what they mean for the buyers and sellers REALTORS® serve every day.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why mortgage rates are expected to stay around 7%, and how oil prices and inflation play into it
• Why the “lock-in” effect is real but not universal, and why homeowners are staying put for 11 years now compared with 6 to 7 before the Great Recession
• How the 4.7 million home shortage, new federal housing legislation, and local zoning all connect
• What a “K-shaped” housing market means, and why first-time buyers are struggling the most
• Who is buying right now: more single buyers, buyers influenced by their pets, and fewer households with kids under 18
• How affordable Ohio really is, including the roughly $64,000 income needed to buy the median-priced home in Akron with 20% down
• What’s coming from NAR’s research team, from the Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers to new reports on data centers and how REALTORS® are using AI

Mike and Jamie also ask Dr. Lautz what home for all means to her. Her answer is a great reminder of why this work matters.

Grab your coffee and your earbuds and give this one a listen.

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Listen here.