Jeff Ostrowski

Writer and housing market analyst @Bankrate | Alum @pbpost, @UofIllinois | Author of "How to Buy a Home in a Miserable Market" on Kindle.

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

“We have a record-high level of jobs. We should have record-high levels of home sales, theoretically,” Lawrence Yun of @nardotrealtor tells #NAREE2026. Instead, home sales are well below normal.

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

Housing lock-in effect remains in effect: “We do have some shrinking of this lock-in effect, but it’s very, very gradual,” Selma Hepp of @cotality tells #NAREE2026.

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

“Half of the country is already in a recession” based on state-by-state job losses, Lawrence Yun of @nardotrealtor tells #NAREE2026.

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

South Florida waterfront mansions are selling for “massive, massive numbers and massive premiums,” says Jay Phillip Parker of Douglas Elliman. $1M is now entry level: “We’ve become a market where the millionaires are being pushed out by the billionaires." #NAREE2026

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

2026 was supposed to be a year of double-digit jumps in home sales. Alas ... https://t.co/OIlfikRfqU

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

“They pissed away $16,000 trying to make $10,000,” says @DouglasRill, @CENTURY21 broker in West Palm Beach, Florida, tells my @Bankrate colleague Andrew Dehan. https://t.co/myYXXSKelB

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

The most dramatic shift in housing market conditions over past four years came in Colorado Springs, according to a new Bankrate analysis. Meanwhile, the strongest buyer's markets among the Top 100 metro areas is in McAllen, Texas. https://t.co/D6yiEtftSj

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

Amid ongoing housing shortage, states are taking steps to boost the housing supply: https://t.co/14848p2SZC

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

January home sales weren't as bad as originally thought: @nardotrealtor revised up from 3.91M to 4.02M. And February prices set a record, just barely.

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

Car payments are near record levels, and a growing share of Americans are taking on payments north of $1,000. That can mess up your mortgage application. https://t.co/Ouboo50J66

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

Mortgage rates fell to 6.09% this week, per @Bankrate's weekly survey, lowest since September 2022. Homebuyers' reaction? Meh. @nardotrealtor says pending sales were down for January. https://t.co/0pBidUpTAD

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

Lumber prices infamously spiked during the pandemic, but they're back to pre-pandemic levels, says Robert Dietz of @NAHBhome. #IBS2026

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

New acronym for a turning housing market, per @AliWolfEcon: FOBATT, fear of buying at the top. With prices falling in Austin, Tampa and elsewhere, a pertinent concern. #IBS2026

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

Rob Dietz of @NAHBhome tells #IBS2026 that Kevin Warsh is a surprising choice of Fed chair by a president who wants rate cuts: "He was a notorious hawk."

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

Robert Dietz of @NAHBhome expects no ‘sustained’ sub-6% mortgage rates until 2027. #IBS2026

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

January home sales back below 4 million -- they were 3.91 million, down 4.4% from a year ago and 8.4% from a month ago, @nardotrealtor reports. Median price eked out a new record for January, at $396,800.

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

Never a good sign when Lawrence Yun uses the phrases "crisis" and "big bummer" to describe @nardotrealtor home sales release. https://t.co/5RDyqrhBbS

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

Austin home prices are off 11% from their peak @odetakushi, tells @HousingWire summit. But fret not: Austin prices soared 65% before that.

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

Isaac Boltansky of PENNYMAC expects a flurry of proposals during President Trump's State of the Union Feb. 24. “There's a moment here where they're thinking about big ideas, they're thinking about new ideas. Some of them aren't great. Some of them could be great.” @HousingWire

[Jeff Ostrowski @bio561]

Accomplishment of the day: Getting through this live shot with an LA TV station without dropping any Tribe Called Quest references. ("I Left My Wallet in El Segundo")