Key Insights into the Single-Family Rental Industry
Legislative Affairs, Home Price Index, Ownership Affordability
by David Howard
The National Rental Home Council (NRHC) serves as the trade association for the single-family rental (SFR) home industry. NRHC members include owner-operators, builders, vendors, and service providers of single-family rental homes across the country.
As part of our mission to provide market research and other tools to guide members through the ever-evolving housing market landscape, this article contains key insights I hope you find beneficial.
Legislative Affairs
On February 25, the NRHC joined fourteen industry trade associations in supporting Bill Pulte as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). We urged the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs to approve his nomination and send it to the Senate floor. The committee voted 15-9 to advance the nomination on March 6th. By the time this issue goes to press, we expect him to already have been approved.
As head of the FHFA, Pulte would help oversee the Federal National Mortgage Association, otherwise known as Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, otherwise known as Freddie Mac, government-chartered entities that buy and sell mortgages as a means to provide additional funding to loan originators and for community investment. FHFA also oversees eleven federal home loan banks.
In his nomination hearing before the committee, Pulte addressed the need for more housing and lower housing costs in the U.S., saying in his prepared statement, “It is time to begin building again in America. FHFA plays a critical role in ensuring the safety and soundness of America’s housing finance system.”
Case-Shiller Home Price Index
After a period of US home price growth that peaked at 21% year-over-year, prices stabilized between Q3 and Q4 2024 in response to high mortgage rates and prices. Annual price gains still outpace inflation by a decent clip. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index (non-seasonally adjusted) recorded a 3.9% yearly increase through December 2024, a slight pick up from 3.7% in November.
Home prices in large metros continued to outpace national home price growth. The 10-City Composite posted a 5.1% year-over-year gain, while the 20-City Composite rose to 4.5% in December 2024. Both picked up slightly from their November growth rates.
New York (7.2%) continues to be at the front of the 20-City Composite, followed by Chicago (6.6%) and Boston (6.3%). Meanwhile, Tampa continues to struggle with home prices declining by 1.1% year-over-year.
Home Ownership Affordability
The January 2025 Atlanta Fed Home Ownership Affordability Monitor showed that a typical home would cost 47% of the median household income — matching highs experienced during the summer of 2024. Homeownership costs up to 30% of median income are considered affordable.
While affordability has been on a nosedive for some time, January’s data showed that home price changes were the largest drag on affordability since 2022. Income has been a consistent plus for home ownership affordability, but its impact has waned as the labor market has slowed. The median payment for a typical home (including taxes and insurance) reached $3.1k, up 12% from one year ago. According to the Monitor, median household income has risen by only 1%.
Only 149 of 774 metros tracked by the Atlanta Fed were considered affordable as of January 2024. Los Angeles (CA) remains the least affordable among large metros.
