Housing: U.S Middle-Class Can No Longer Afford

Since 2012, U.S housing recovery has began in 2012, but a revamp housing market didn’t create an equal economic benefit for everyone, but a generation of renters who can no longer afford a house.

華爾街日報此篇新聞摘譯如下：

(1) 房價持續上漲，整體而言，只比金融海嘯前的高點低2%
Overall prices are now just 2% below the peak reached in July 2006.

(2) 擁屋率(62.9%)持續下探，跌至51年來的最低點；有專家預測至2050年時可能掉到58%甚至再低
While economists expected the homeownership rate to begin edging up this year, the rate fell to a 51-year low of 62.9% in the second quarter.

The rate could fall to 58% or lower by 2050, according to a recent prediction by housing experts Arthur Acolin of the University of Southern California.

(3) 租金報酬率在4%以上，接近台灣三倍；租屋族苦哈哈，包租公笑哈哈

(4) 買不起房的雙重打擊：一方面享受不到財富增值（房價上漲）且退休後仍須承擔租屋壓力，二方面要不斷面對接連上漲的租金
Long-term declines could erase gains made by middle-class Americans since World War II. Owning a home provides protection against rising rents and has been a key component of retirement saving and wealth creation.

新聞來源：
Lopsided Housing Rebound Leaves Millions of People Out in the Cold