Renters behind on rent during prior year
23%
percent of renters
Rent payment stress reached nearly one quarter of renters.
Boundary Any episode during the year; not necessarily currently behind.
The American Household Economy · 2026
Housing
Housing in mid-2026: the 30-year mortgage rate, FHFA house-price growth, starts and permits, and renter arrears — with affordability caveats and the limits of each index.
Data as of
Housing in mid-2026
Financing costs stayed high while price growth slowed but stayed positive. Supply readings are volatile and heavily revised.
30-year fixed mortgage rate
6.58%
weekly average rate
Financing costs remained high despite being below the year-earlier 6.74%.
Boundary Average conforming purchase applications for qualified borrowers; individual quotes vary.
FHFA house-price growth
+2.0%
12-month percent change
National home-price appreciation slowed but stayed positive.
Boundary Repeat-sales index for homes financed through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Housing starts
1.427M
seasonally adjusted annual rate
Starts rebounded sharply from May.
Boundary Monthly estimate has wide confidence intervals and is routinely revised.
Building permits
1.367M
seasonally adjusted annual rate
The forward-looking permit pace remained below a year earlier.
Boundary Authorization does not guarantee construction.
Median sales price of houses sold
$410,700
dollars
Nominal new-home prices remained near cycle highs.
Boundary New houses sold; not the median price of all existing and new homes.
Homeownership rate
65.3%
percent of occupied housing units
Roughly two-thirds of occupied homes were owner-occupied.
Boundary A housing-unit rate, not the share of people owning clear title or owning without a mortgage.
Rent of primary residence CPI
441.741
index, 1982–84=100
Contract rents continued rising even as monthly shelter inflation cooled.
Boundary An index level without a household-specific dollar rent; geographic experiences differ.
Adults under 30 living with a parent
49%
percent of adults under 30
Multi-generational co-residence reached nearly half of adults under 30.
Boundary Living with parents can reflect preference or support, not only housing unaffordability.
New residential construction
Starts and permits share the same unit, so they can be compared directly.
Denominator: millions of units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (June 2026, preliminary). Both are wide-confidence-interval estimates that are routinely revised.
| Series | million units (SAAR) |
|---|---|
| Housing starts | |
| Building permits |
Affordability caveats
A 30-year fixed rate of 6.58% is a weekly average for qualified borrowers on conforming purchase applications. An individual quote depends on credit, down payment and loan type; it is not a rate everyone receives.
House-price growth of +2.0% comes from a repeat-sales index limited to homes financed through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It does not capture cash sales, jumbo loans, or local swings.
Rent stress is real: 23% of renters were behind on rent at some point in the prior year. That is any episode during the year, not necessarily being behind today.