The U.S. has been in a lost decade since the start of the housing market collapse in 2007, Robert Shiller, co-founder of the Case-Shiller U.S. housing price index told Reuters in a report republished by CNBC.
In fact, Shiller said suggestions of an improving housing market are too optimistic. His own analysis shows marginal improvement and slow growth at best. With students carrying an average of $25,000 in student loan debt and mortgages only going to those with stellar credit and 19% downpayments, Shiller expects slow growth for the next five years in the economy.
Reuters says Shiller believes the market is “underestimating tectonic shifts in the U.S. economy that make the housing market a different place from a decade ago.”
He paints a dire picture when it comes to the fate of young, first-time homebuyers.
The young, he says, are coming out of school in debt and are those most at risk of losing their jobs or of never obtaining one. Not to mention, their retirement and health care benefits are shrinking at the same time rents are rising.
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