Gresh, Haughwout, Lee and van der Klaauw argue in Liberty Street Economics that affordability weighs on renters’ mobility

Gresh, Haughwout, Lee and van der Klaauw argue in Liberty Street Economics that affordability weighs on renters’ mobility

On August 6, 2026, Christopher Gresh, Andrew F. Haughwout, Eungik Lee, and Wilbert van der Klaauw examine why renters expect to move less often. Using the New York Fed’s Survey of Consumer Expectations Housing Survey, they report that renters’ expected mobility has declined alongside their expectations of ever owning a home. Renters who see mortgage access as difficult or expect higher mortgage rates also report lower moving probabilities. The authors find that renters’ stated preferences for owning a home have remained broadly stable, and argue that affordability constraints, rather than a weaker desire to own, help explain their declining expectations of homeownership and mobility. Their point matters because moving can help households reach job opportunities and improve their housing situations; when renters expect ownership to be out of reach, they may also be less likely to plan a move. The authors caution that affordability perceptions are only one contributing factor, and that comparisons by mortgage expectations do not control for differences such as credit scores or changing economic conditions. They do not quantify how much affordability accounts for the decline in renters’ expected mobility.

Publication: 11924a79-0bb4-16dd-ac47-8a2e0bda8f4e

attribution — pass: The reading correctly attributes the post to Christopher Gresh, Andrew F. Haughwout, Eungik Lee and Wilbert van der Klaauw in the New York Fed's Liberty Street Economics. It keeps the findings framed as the authors' reported results and arguments. The page is a single authored post, not a listing.

Christopher Gresh, Andrew F. Haughwout, Eungik Lee, and Wilbert van der Klaauw

summary — pass: The title and summary faithfully convey the post's argument: renters' expected mobility and their homeownership expectations fell together, while their stated preference for owning stayed stable. The authors read this as pointing to affordability rather than weaker desire. The hedges are preserved: affordability is one factor, and there are no controls for credit scores or changing conditions. Terms are plain enough for a general reader. The question follows directly from the authors' own caveat.

More broadly, our results highlight that housing affordability may be one factor behind declining expected mobility among renters.

date — pass: The originalPublished instant, 2026-08-06T11:00Z, matches the dateline and citation date of August 6, 2026, and the reading states the date at day precision. This is a publisher page, not an archive copy. The reading uses no later material, such as the comment, and adds no hindsight framing.

August 6, 2026 Why Do Fewer Renters Expect to Move?

support — pass: Each claim is grounded in the source text: the decline from 57 to 37 percent, the stable preference shares, the association with mortgage perceptions and its stated lack of controls, and the reasons mobility matters. The significance line about renters being less likely to plan a move is phrased conditionally and matches the source's correlation. The statement that the authors do not quantify affordability's share accurately reflects the text, which gives no decomposition.

The share of renters who say they would prefer or strongly prefer to own a home if they had the financial resources has fluctuated narrowly between 65 and 74 percent since 2015

media — pass: The reading selects no media, and the evidence supplies no verified media candidates. No media identity or relevance issue arises.