Office of the Chief Economist

Blog

CoreLogic’s Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) employs some of the brightest minds and most often quoted professionals in the housing ecosystem, including Molly Boesel, Selma Hepp and other experts who know how to best interpret data trends and tell you what they mean. The OCE authors CoreLogic’s regular monthly economic reports: The Home Price Index (HPI), the Loan Performance Index (LPI), the Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI) and the S&P Case-Shiller Index (CSI). Our economists also routinely weigh in on other key housing topics on our blog, podcasts and videos. Read previous blog posts from CoreLogic's economists.
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September 5, 2022

Small Investors Chose to Sell Properties Rather than Rent Them Duri...

Fueled by the housing supply shortage and historically low mortgage rates during the pandemic, both home prices and rents hit new highs. With home price growth at record levels, some single-family investors sold their rental portfolios to extract the equity gains.

August 24, 2022

The Beginning of the End? Single-Family Investor Activity Takes a S...

The share of single-family home purchases made by investors dropped by 8 percentage points from Q1 to Q2, suggesting that these buyers may be more sensitive to interest rate increases than owner-occupied buyers

August 18, 2022

Returns from Price Appreciation Surpass Returns from Rent, But Not ...

Looking at appreciation alone does not convey the full benefits of owning a home. This is more accurately measured by the sum of price appreciation and rental income flows—the total appreciation.

April 5, 2022

Record Home Price Appreciation Led by Sun Belt States in February

National home prices increased 20% year over year in February 2022, according to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Index Report.

April 4, 2022

Single-Family Investor Activity Stalls in the Fourth Quarter of 2021

Investors’ recent acquisition spree showed its first signs of slowing down in the fourth quarter of 2021. After hitting historical peaks in the second and third quarters of 2021, the share of homes purchased by investors reached its zenith last October at 26.9% of total home sales

March 31, 2022

Young Homebuyer Share Declines After Peaking in 2020

The slim supply of homes for sale is pushing up home prices, and there is a notable difference between young homebuyers, those aged 30 and below and older millennial homebuyers ages 31 and 40.

March 29, 2022

Vacation Locations Saw Large Home Equity Gains in 2021

The Mountain-West region is the hottest housing market in the country, and according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index, Phoenix had the fastest year-over-year appreciation. Denver and Boise, Idaho, also showed up as desirable locations.

March 18, 2022

Monthly Mortgage Payments on Recent Home Purchases Are Significantl...

The real savings that many potential buyers expected from record-low interest rates were quickly outstripped by the pandemic-fueled housing demand and price increases that followed a temporary market shutdown.

March 15, 2022

Single-Family Annual Rent Growth Off to a Fast Start in 2022

U.S. single-family rent growth increased 12.6% in January 2022, the fastest year-over-year increase in over 16 years , according to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI). January marked the 10th consecutive month of record-level rent growth.

March 10, 2022

Homeowners Gained Over $3.2 Trillion in Home Equity in 2021

Homeowners Gained Over $3.2 Trillion in Home Equity in 2021.

March 8, 2022

U.S. Mortgage Delinquency Rate At A Record Low in December

In December 2021, 3.4% of home mortgages were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure) , which was a 2.4-percentage point decrease from December 2020 according to the latest CoreLogic Loan Performance Insights Report.

March 1, 2022

Home Price Increases Reach New High in the New Year

National home prices increased 19.1% year over year in January 2022, according to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI®) Report.