Let's start today talking about the current housing market in the United States.[qh]
让我们今天开始谈论美国当前的住房市场[qh]
。An increasing number of potential first-time home buyers are becoming concerned that they simply might not be able to afford a home.[qh]
越来越多的潜在首次购房者越来越担心他们根本买不起房子[qh]
。According to a new Gallup survey, three out of every four Americans say it's a bad time to buy.[qh]
根据一项新的盖洛普调查,每四个美国人中就有三个人说现在不是买房的好时机[qh]
。We have a generation today who I think is more pessimistic than any other generation about even the chance that they'll ever be homeowners.[qh]
美国现今这一代人,我认为,比其他任何一代人都更悲观,甚至对他们有朝一日成为房主的可能性都不抱希望[qh]
。Now, young Americans have been battling a one-two punch of high home prices and painful mortgage rates.[qh]
现在,年轻的美国人一直在与高房价和痛苦的抵押贷款利率的双重打击作斗争[qh]
。It's important to understand how these two things work. High prices are fairly straightforward. Homes are really expensive.[qh]
了解这两件事是如何运作的很重要[qh]
。高房价相当直接 。房子真的很贵 。In fact, it's likely the most expensive purchase you'll ever make, right?[qh]
事实上,这可能是你做过的最昂贵的购买行为,对吧?[qh]
A mortgage rate is how much you'll have to pay to borrow money to make that purchase. Right now, that number is around 7%.[qh]
抵押贷款利率是你为了购买房产而借钱时需要偿还的金额[qh]
。目前,这个数字大约是7% 。Unfortunately, higher interest rates are really the wet blanket of spring right now.[qh]
很不幸,利率上升确实是这个春天的扫兴事[qh]
。All right, let's say you wanted to buy a 400,000 dollars house today, and you needed to borrow money from the bank.[qh]
好的,假设你今天想买一套价值40万美元的房子,并且你需要从银行借钱[qh]
。Well, with a 30-year fixed mortgage with a 7% interest rate, you'd pay back your loan over 30 years with that same 7% interest rate, and by the end of the 30 years, you would have ended up paying 750,000 dollars for a 400,000 dollars home.[qh]
那么,按照30年期固定利率7%的抵押贷款,你将在30年内以相同的7%利率偿还贷款,30年后,你将为一套40万美元的房子支付75万美元[qh]
。Home ownership, which has traditionally been a vehicle of wealth accumulation for the typical American household, is just unavailable to a large segment of the population.[qh]
拥有住房,传统上一直是典型美国家庭积累财富的工具,但对于很大一部分人口来说,这是无法实现的[qh]
。So we really have a kind of a tale of two Americas that's emerged.[qh]
所以我们真的有了一种两个美国的故事,这种故事已经出现了[qh]
。Now, at the same time, rising home prices have boosted homeowners' net worth.[qh]
现在,与此同时,不断上涨的房价提高了房主的净资产[qh]
。That's great for homeowners, but it doesn't help home buyers or potential buyers who are trying to purchase their first house.[qh]
这对房主来说是好事,但对那些试图购买第一套住房的购房者或潜在购房者没有帮助[qh]
。We continue to see multiple offers, three offers for every home that's listed as an average.[qh]
我们继续看到多个报价,平均每个上市房屋有三个报价[qh]
。So those bidding wars are continuing with that lack of inventory.[qh]
因此,由于库存不足,这些竞价战还在继续[qh]
。Mortgage rates should drop once the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates, but inflation has been really stubborn, and it's taken longer than expected.[qh]
一旦美联储降低利率,抵押贷款利率应该会下降,但通货膨胀一直非常顽固,而且比预期的时间要长[qh]
。That's led many young Americans to continue renting or to live at home with family.[qh]
这导致许多美国年轻人继续租房或与家人一起住在家里
。[qh]