2014 Forecast: Housing Recovery to Struggle Due to Underemployment and Stricter Mortgage Rules

Forecast sees unemployment and under-employment among the 25- to 35-year-old cohort as having a chilling effect on the number of first-time homebuyers, the group that historically has fueled growth in the housing ecosystem. Also, new qualified mortgage (QM) and ability-to-repay rules will exclude somewhere between 10-20% of borrowers who would have qualified for a loan in 2013. [12/30]