by Calculated Risk on 9/08/2014 06:20:00 PM

From Nick Timiraos at the WSJ: Why More Renters Aren’t Buying (Hint: Weak Incomes, Savings)

A new survey says that younger workers and other renters aren’t turning away from homeownership because they lack the desire to own homes. Instead, they’re staying on the sidelines because they lack the capacity to purchase.

The analysis from the New York Federal Reserve Bank comes via their survey of consumer expectations in February. It polled 867 homeowners and 344 renters on their attitudes toward homeownership and their plans to move.

One popular trend cited frequently in the press is that millennials and other renters have permanently turned away from owning homes after watching their parents’ generation take it on the chin during the housing bust. ...

But the New York Fed researchers say their survey points to a different conclusion: borrowers want to buy, but they can’t cut it financially. Conservative mortgage lending standards are only likely to exacerbate this problem.

My view is people will want to own ... and as their incomes eventually increase, they will become homeowners. No worries.

Tuesday:
• At 7:30 AM ET, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for August.

• Early, the Trulia Price Rent Monitors for August. This is the index from Trulia that uses asking house prices adjusted both for the mix of homes listed for sale and for seasonal factors.

• At 10:00 AM, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for July from the BLS. Jobs openings increased in June to 4.671 million from 4.577 million in May. That was the highest level since February 2001. The number of job openings were up 18% year-over-year compared to June 2013. Quits were up 15% year-over-year in June.