Market Update

Home Sellers vs. Housing Affordability (Episode 2)

By Corey HinklePublished October 20, 2026

The short answer

Corey Hinkle's housing series, Episode 2, uses local listings to show how some sellers respond to low housing affordability: holding firm on price, renting, or delisting to wait. He explains that affordability is low today because prices and mortgage rates are both elevated, which differs from the 1980s. These are opinions, not forecasts or advice.

Full video transcript

[0:11] Today's show is going to be our next installment in our ongoing series related to the housing market. Today's show is going to be about a few local listings that tell a very interesting story going on in the Austin area and in other places around the United States, as well as how that relates to housing affordability [0:30] and the last time we saw housing affordability where it is today. And what's also different between the last time housing affordability was where it is today versus why it is where it is today. Also, we do have coming up on November 3rd, I believe we are going to take a trip over to the local [0:52] foreclosure auction that's taking place in the county that Ankerstar Wealth is located in. So we'll get kind of that'll be might be our next installment of this show is what is what is that foreclosure auction like in 2026 right now? Because we have seen a little spike in foreclosures. It's just something to monitor [1:12] at this point, you know, in the United States. So also mentioned, we will jump into a little market update in the stock market. It's a very, very good day in the stock market today. So that's a great news there. Before I begin, I must remind you, this is a financial education presentation. You must do your own due diligence. [1:31] before acting on anything you hear in this presentation. More disclaimer information can be found on AnchorStar Wealth.com and the opinions expressed are mine alone. There you do have the S&P 500 up almost half a percent, interest rates holding steady here, and then oil kind of continuing to rise, but off the highs of the day. So that's that market update. [1:53] You know, we're monitoring all those things. And then, of course, the key focus for all investors is the AI rally. Things are very steady in the AI rally after a little bit of volatility this morning. And, you know, you kind of know if you watch yesterday's show, you know what we're looking out at over these next few months to see where things will go from here. [2:13] If you didn't see that, that was an important show yesterday, but we'll take a break from the AI rally for the rest of today's show. Jumping in, here's a few local listings. These are things I've found. These listings are obviously isolated to themselves, but the story that these listings tell is very common here in 2026. Now let's look at this first one. [2:36] You've got, you know, a 4,000 square foot home, obviously very nice home, kind of a luxury offering, extra garage space it looks like. You've got living on an acre. So this is kind of the American dream here. You know, you go through the home, [2:55] Things are very, it's just impressive, right? Impressive property. You don't even have a neighbor on one side. Okay, so the listing there is for $949,000. Now these folks clearly do need to move, but let's go look at the price history to see what story is being told here. [3:15] So. [3:16] And I also like to take a moment to look at the tax situation as well. You know, keep in mind here in Texas, a $1,000,000 property is going to come with a pretty big tax bill, right? So then these folks are, looks like they're paying about 20,000 per year in taxes. And what's the median salary? [6:50] is very helpful to folks out there. Now, these purchasers here, people bought it in 2021 for 1.2 million. We see they pretty much paid that. They listed it this year for 1.2 million, and they immediately dug their heels in, immediately. They didn't want to take a loss on this home, even though it's ultimately going to be. [7:11] I mean, it already has been a loss, right? You look at the property taxes by year, you look at no appreciation, and they clearly want out of it. Now, there's two reasons why you want out of it. One, life changed, or two, you need out of it. You know, you maybe lost a software job or something like that, and that would be the worst situation. These people, it looks like maybe they don't totally need out of it. [7:35] but they've dug their heels in. They won't reduce price. Now they've listed it for rent. Now, if you paid 1.2 million, depending on your purchase price, renting it for 5,500 a month is probably going to be, I don't know, maybe it's break even. At current interest rates, it wouldn't be break even. [7:55] They still wouldn't be making a lot of money, but they'd be holding on to the asset. So will they be able to rent it? I don't know. Will they be able to sell it? I don't know. But these people are saying, we'd rather rent it at break even than take a loss on it. It's like a, it's a common thought process. So we've also seen another thing where people unlist. [8:17] They just take it off and they're saying, we're going to wait for the market to get better. But when people in our situation see that, it's a weird, that's a weird thing to say. I'm going to wait for the housing market to get better before I sell because kind of this is sort of the best it's been for sellers. [8:36] not right this second. Of course, it's not the best it's been right this second. But if you think about this decade, this is like a very good decade to be a seller of housing in general. If you look at housing affordability, housing affordability is really low. That means that housing prices are really high. [8:55] Housing prices in combination with interest rates are also very high, so... [9:01] If housing affordability is low, that means if you're able to sell at these prices, then you're actually getting a really good deal. Now, what about the last time we saw housing affordability this low? You go back to the 80s. We got people out there who were purchasing real estate in the 80s, and they'll tell you this. In the 80s, you had really low housing affordability. [9:21] but you didn't have high house home prices. You just had insane interest rates. Interest rates, in some cases, almost double what they are today. So the interest rates made homes very unaffordable in the early 80s, but it wasn't the actual asset. [9:40] prices. Today, you have a little bit higher mortgage rates, higher than we've seen in the past 15 years or so, but you have really high asset prices. So the housing affordability being low today is different than the housing affordability being low in the 80s. [9:59] And you could probably say, make an argument at least, that the housing affordability of the 80s was better for buyers because it was an annoying payment, but at least the asset price was low. Whereas today, people are clearly not guaranteed to see [10:19] price appreciation at these prices. And if we go look at the median sales price of a home, you know, you peaked here and call it whatever, sometime in 2022, right before they started hiking rates. That was kind of the peak of housing prices. [10:39] We've entered a bit of a downtrend here. So if someone's looking to sell and they want to get off the ride, it might not be a terrible thing to go ahead and bite the bullet now to do it. Because this idea that I'm going to wait for it to get better [10:59] housing affordability is already really low. So I don't, getting better for you would presumably mean that home price appreciates again, but how can it appreciate if home affordability is already at really low levels? So that's kind of the push and pull. And people say, well, [11:18] wait for interest rates to go low. You know, we don't have evidence indicating that interest rates really will fall off a cliff here. The only thing that would cause interest rates to really fall off a cliff would actually be a recession, which may also not be great for home affordability in that sense. So I just wanted to introduce all these dynamics. We're seeing a lot of it here in central [11:43] Texas. [11:44] people anchoring, people pivoting, people refusing to take a loss on it, or maybe they can't. Some people holding on where they don't have to get out. Some people maybe being forced out if life changed and they couldn't afford it. There's all that stuff going on. And then people delisting [12:04] and waiting for better times that it's not totally clear that those times will come. If we're in a downturn here, this could continue to fall another, you know, what are we down? [12:16] Not quite 10% on a median sales price of a new home sold in the United States. You know, where might we go from here? No one knows for sure. These things do take, housing prices move slowly, but we could be due for a little bit more pain on the home price front. [12:36] over these next couple of years. Again, with the caveat that we don't know the future and this is not financial advice. We're just talking about housing today. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm very interested about this foreclosure auction here in a few weeks just to see what that's like and to learn. And then, yeah, reach out if you have any questions or if there's anything I missed. [12:57] on this aspect of the today's housing market. Thanks again for joining us. Of course, look forward to talking to you soon.

Key Takeaways

• Corey uses a few local listings, which he says are isolated examples, to illustrate a pattern he sees across the Austin area and other parts of the country in 2026.

• Some sellers hold firm on price, some list a home for rent instead, and some take a home off the market to wait for better conditions. Each choice reflects a reluctance to accept a loss.

• Housing affordability is low today because home prices and mortgage rates are both elevated. In the early 1980s it was low mainly because interest rates were extremely high.

• Corey says that waiting for conditions to improve is not a plan on its own, because better affordability would require prices or rates to fall, and neither is certain.

• He notes that housing prices tend to move slowly and that no one knows where they go from here. This is general commentary and not advice for any buyer or seller.

What Is This Episode About, and What Else Did the Update Cover?

Corey introduces Episode 2 of an ongoing series on the housing market. The episode looks at local listings, what they suggest about housing affordability, and how today's affordability compares with the last time it was this low. He also says he plans to visit a local foreclosure auction in the county where Ankerstar Wealth is located as a possible future episode, since foreclosures have been something to monitor. He covers the introduction at (0:11).

Before turning to housing, he gave a brief market check. He described the stock market as having a positive day, interest rates as holding steady, and oil as continuing to rise but off its highs of the day. He said the AI rally was steady after some morning volatility and pointed viewers to the prior day's show for what he is watching. He covers the market overview at (1:12) and (1:53).

What Can Local Listings Show About Seller Behavior?

Corey walks through a luxury home on a large lot and looks at its price history and property tax situation. He reviews the listing's history rather than its features, because he believes the history tells a story that is common in 2026. He says the listings are isolated examples and not data on the whole market. He covers the first listing at (2:13) and (3:16).

In his description, the owners bought several years ago near the market's peak, listed the home at about what they paid, and then declined to reduce the price. They later listed it for rent. He says renting may be close to break-even at current interest rates, and that some owners prefer that to accepting a loss. He covers this at (7:35). Individual circumstances differ, and a reluctance to sell at a loss can reflect a real need or a real choice.

Why Is Housing Affordability Low Today, and How Is It Different From the 1980s?

Corey explains that low affordability means high prices relative to what buyers can pay, particularly when mortgage rates are also elevated. He contrasts today with the early 1980s, when affordability was also low but the cause was extremely high interest rates rather than high home prices. In his view, that made the earlier period different for buyers, since the monthly payment was painful but the price of the asset was low. He covers the comparison at (9:01) and (9:40).

Today, he says, mortgage rates are higher than they have been in many years and asset prices are also high, so buyers are not assured of price appreciation. That is his opinion and not a prediction. Home values, rates, and local conditions vary widely, and a comparison across decades leaves out many differences in wages, lending standards, and supply.

What About Waiting for Better Conditions?

Corey discusses sellers who delist a home to wait for a better market. He questions what better would mean when affordability is already low, because a recovery in prices would be harder if buyers are stretched. He also says he does not see evidence that interest rates will fall sharply, and notes that a sharp drop in rates has often come with a recession, which has its own trade-offs for housing. He covers this at (10:19), (10:59), and (11:18).

He closes by listing what he sees in central Texas: anchoring on a past price, pivoting to renting, refusing to take a loss, holding on when there is no need to leave, and being forced out when circumstances change. He says housing prices move slowly and that no one knows the future. He covers the wrap-up at (11:44) and (12:36). These are his observations as of the recording, not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any property.

CHAPTER 14: SYNTHESIS

The common thread is that housing decisions are often shaped by what people paid, what they can afford to carry, and what they hope will change, not only by current market conditions. Low affordability can come from different causes, and the cause matters for how buyers and sellers experience it. Corey's discipline is to show examples, explain the mechanics, and acknowledge that no one can say where prices or rates go next.

A durable plan treats a home as one part of a broader picture that includes cash flow, liquidity, taxes, debt, and time horizon. Waiting for a market to improve involves its own costs and risks, and holding or selling a property can both result in a loss. Diversification across assets may help reduce reliance on any one of them, but it cannot eliminate losses.

Educational Disclaimer

This market update is a financial education presentation. It is not personalized investment, tax, or real estate advice, and it does not recommend any security, property, or strategy. Do your own due diligence before acting on anything you read or hear here. The opinions expressed are Corey's alone, and investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. More disclaimer information is available on the Disclosures page.

Put Market Context in Service of Your Plan

Housing commentary is most useful when it prompts better planning questions, such as how much of a household's wealth is tied to one property, what a home costs to carry, and how a sale, a rental, or a purchase fits a broader strategy.

Explore the firm's financial planning services or its retirement planning approach, or contact Ankerstar Wealth to discuss how these themes relate to your planning questions. Any decision should reflect individual circumstances and a full review of risks, taxes, and trade-offs.

This article is general information, not personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Your situation is specific to you — talk to a qualified professional before acting on anything here.

Frequently asked questions

Why can housing affordability be low even when prices are not rising?

Affordability reflects the relationship between home prices, mortgage rates, and household income. Prices that stay high, combined with higher borrowing costs, can keep monthly payments out of reach for many buyers even when prices are flat. The result varies by location and by household.

How was housing affordability different in the early 1980s?

Affordability was low then mainly because mortgage interest rates were extremely high, while home prices were comparatively low. Today the pressure comes from both elevated prices and mortgage rates that are higher than in recent years. The two periods differ in many other ways, so the comparison is only a rough guide.

What are the trade-offs of renting out a home instead of selling it?

Renting can let an owner keep the property and avoid selling at a loss, but rent may not cover the mortgage, taxes, insurance, and maintenance. Owners also take on vacancy risk, landlord responsibilities, and possible tax consequences. A qualified professional can help evaluate a specific situation.

Does this update recommend buying, selling, or holding a home?

No. The update is educational commentary and reflects Corey's opinions as of the recording. Whether any real estate decision is appropriate depends on an individual's goals, finances, time horizon, tax situation, and tolerance for loss.

Keep reading