Century 21 CEO warns US didn’t ‘build enough homes’ for this ‘pent-up’ demand
Surging mortgage rates aren’t cooling millennial, Gen-Z homebuyer demand, Mike Miedler says
US didn’t ‘build enough homes’ for future generations: Century 21 CEO
Century 21 CEO Mike Miedler argues construction companies need to work ‘double-time’ to catch up to millennial and Gen-Z homebuyer demand.
Even though mortgage rates are rising at their highest pace since 1994, Century 21 CEO Mike Miedler argued that’s not the biggest problem facing the real estate market on "Mornings with Maria" Thursday.
"Honestly, we just have not built enough homes in this country between 2012 and 2021," Miedler told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo. "We have 12 million new household formations, but only built 7 million new homes."
The largest American generation, millennials, are "storming" the market with a population 90 million strong, Miedler noted. Right behind them is Gen-Z with 60 million teens-to-20-somethings preparing for that homeownership goal, which means "we’re going to be in a pinch."
"With inflation and where the prices of lumber and labor are in this country right now, you don't have a lot of builders really working double-time to catch up to what we need from an overall supply perspective," Miedler explained.
"We need to be working double time in order to get the supply that we need back out to the marketplace," he continued.
Century 21 CEO Mike Miedler says home builders need to work "double-time" to provide the needed housing supply for future generations, on "Mornings with Maria" Thursday. (Getty Images)
A "very active" market is still present despite soaring mortgage rates combined with the median home sale price going up 17% year-over-year as of last week, according to Miedler.
"Believe it or not, homes are going off the market quicker today than they were even in the frothy market that we saw a year ago where mortgage rates are," the real estate CEO said.
The Century 21 exec attributes the "pent-up demand" to millions of job openings and more personal savings amid the pandemic. However, the current market isn’t so friendly to first-time homebuyers.
"Today, the average family would need about $30,000 more in income than they would need just a year ago in order to purchase that median average price for a home," Miedler said. "So it's really going to, I believe, hurt the new entrants to the market."
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Homebuyers still ‘very active’ amid rising mortgage rates: Century 21 CEO
Century 21 CEO Mike Miedler says even with higher mortgage rates, job openings and personal savings are bringing homebuyers to the market.
Agreeing with The Corcoran Group President and CEO Pamela Liebman, Miedler believes the U.S. is "not even close" to seeing another housing bubble soon.
"So you have a choice," Miedler offered. "You're going to pay a little bit more in your mortgage, and you're going to either save a little bit more for a down payment... Or you're going to pay it on the other side of the equation, which is in rents."