What’s in The Shaker today:

• 🤏 Tiny Homes, Big Dreams

• 🔥 Rent Relief on a Slow Burn

• 🥶 Mortgage Demand Cools Off

• 🛠️ Flip City USA

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Tiny Homes, Big Dreams

Gen Z and millennials, squeezed by the housing market, are snapping up $30,000 tiny homes on Amazon, finding an innovative path to homeownership.

• Jeffrey Bryant, a 23-year-old from LA, went viral for buying a $26,000 tiny home on Amazon, using inherited money to make the purchase with plans to convert it into an Airbnb for those in need.

• The trend, fueled by influencers like Nathan Graham, showcases the ease of assembling these compact living spaces, with some units boasting a simple "unfold" setup.

• Amidst a backdrop of housing market frustrations, this movement offers a glimmer of hope and creativity for young buyers, challenging traditional notions of homeownership and investment.

Rent Relief on a Slow Burn

Half of U.S. renters are drowning in costs, but a surge in apartment construction might just be the life raft they need, albeit at a pace that's more tortoise than hare.

• Despite a slight decline in rents for eight consecutive months, the median asking rent is still a whopping $309 higher than pre-pandemic levels, marking a 22% increase.

• The construction boom in multifamily units, the highest since 1988, is beginning to address the supply shortage, but not quickly enough to significantly impact affordability.

• With 22.4 million households spending over a third of their income on rent, and 12 million of those severely burdened, the housing affordability crisis remains a stark reality.

Mortgage Demand Cools Off

Mortgage demand takes a hit as prospective buyers grapple with the scarcity of affordable homes, despite stable interest rates.

• Mortgage applications for home purchases plummeted by 11% last week, highlighting the struggle to find reasonably priced homes in a tight market.

• The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages held steady at 6.78%, but the lack of housing inventory continues to stifle buyer activity.

• While refinance applications saw a slight uptick of 2%, the overall mortgage application volume dropped by 7.2%, signaling a broader slowdown in the housing market.

Flip City USA

Detroit tops the charts as the prime locale for home flippers, boasting a potential 74% profit margin, making it the gold rush city for the fixer-upper crowd.

• Detroit's renovation market is booming, with homes fetching a 74% premium post-makeover, outshining other cities for flipping potential.

• The study by Frontdoor also highlights New Orleans for its abundance of fixer-uppers and St. Louis for offering the most wallet-friendly options.

• Despite Detroit's recent economic revival, its housing market remains one of the most accessible, with luxury-sized homes going for a fraction of the expected price.

How was today's shake?

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