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The hot U.S. housing market shows no signs of cooling off and Jeff Taylor, Mphasis Digital Risk co-founder and managing partner, said buyers should think carefully before shelling out big bucks for a house.
"There's definitely, I think, a difference in between what something is worth and what somebody is willing to pay," he told Yahoo Finance Live.
Read more: Buying a house: What you need to know about home ownership
In some cases Taylor said people are paying too much. "I definitely caution people looking to jump into the housing market right now, especially the millennials who are either living at home or renting, to be thoughtful about it." Taylor cautioned.
Mphasis helps lenders assess a mortgage borrowers' risk. The company's technology touches every stage "of the mortgage life cycle," according to the company's webpage. The due diligence services they provide to clients also give Taylor and his team a view of the housing market few see.
Taylor won't call it a bubble, but says buyers are willing to pay more than some houses are worth,"The loan products that are out there today are very solid since the financial crisis. So the borrowers are in these homes, can afford these homes and have been making payments," he said.
Morgan Stanley strategist Vishwanath Tirupattur recently wrote in a note to clients, "US housing is on a hot streak. Home prices as measured by the S&P Case-Shiller Index rose 12.2% year-over-year, with prices surging across all 20 of the metropolitan areas tracked by the Index. That amounts to an increase of $35,000 in the median selling price for homes from just a year ago and marks the fastest pace of increase since 2006."
'Lumber prices are up 340%'
Home price growth in the U.S. surged at the fastest pace in 15 years early this year. Contributing to the increase is a shortage of existing and new homes for sale. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) last week confirmed skyrocketing lumber prices were driving up prices for new homes.
"Lumber prices are up 340% in one year," Taylor said. "Three months ago, the lumber, the rising lumber prices added $24,000 to a new house. Today, three months later it is 36,000."
And Taylor said it's causing a ripple effect across the housing market in states like Texas and Florida.
"We have seen bidding wars at every price point but especially at the high end, as you see people coming in from Boston, Chicago, New York, everywhere trying to escape sort of the you know, the cold weather and what's perceived to be rising tax rates," Taylor said.