--- title: Is the Housing Market Half Empty or Half Full? SFR's Long-Term Case | The Beaker description: Is the housing market bottoming or falling further? Explore the case for long-term SFR opportunity despite near-term pain, the collapse of iBuyers, and the widening affordability gap. The Beaker. --- [PlanOmatic Blog | Insights on Property Marketing and Management ](https://www.planomatic.com/blog) # [Is the Housing Market Half Empty or Half Full? SFR's Long-Term Case | The Beaker](https://www.planomatic.com/blog/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full) Written by [PlanOmatic](https://www.planomatic.com/blog/author/planomatic) | May 19, 2026 3:45:39 PM In today’s edition: - Optimism for housing remains despite pessimism for the economy - The path to addressing the housing shortage faces obstacles - Can iBuying survive this market? A note from the editor: I am constantly looking at data, reading articles to summarize trends for my colleagues, and taking notes – to the point where I get made fun of for all my notes. So I figured it is time to get this information packaged and published. I look forward to bringing our proprietary insights and unique industry perspective to your inbox on the 1st of each month. I believe that feedback is a gift, so you can write to me at [trose@planomatic.com](http://mailto:trose@planomatic.com/) with any comments, critiques, compliments, or ideas for future content. Thanks for reading! —Tim Rose, Director of PlanOlabs ### 🎯 What's Stirring There seem to be two distinct threads emerging in the SFR industry: 1) Short-term challenges (layoffs, pause in acquisitions, waiting for prices to adjust, etc.) and 2) Long-term opportunities (strong rental demand, plenty of capital to deploy, etc). Some are saying we are at or near the “bottom”, while others are not quite so optimistic:   - **Jerome Powell is bracing for a longer inflation fight** amid the hiring surge. Unemployment has fallen to its lowest point in 53 years (3.4% in Jan), while the Fed has [raised rates at its fastest pace since the 1980s](https://www.wsj.com/articles/feds-jerome-powell-to-address-economic-outlook-with-hiring-surge-in-spotlight-11675781503). “We’re not seeing disinflation there yet, and that’s going to take some time. We’re going to need to be patient.” More than a third of Fed officials anticipated lifting the rate above 5.25% this year, which would call for another increase in June. - **Don Mullen explains why he is still all-in on US Housing**, citing proven operational effectiveness at scale (no longer the risk it was back in 2008), a severe undersupply of housing, more renters by choice… oh and he also said [“iBuyers will probably disappear completely. I’d be surprised if they exist at all in 24 months.”](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-02-08/ex-goldman-exec-s-top-housing-market-predictions-for-2023) - **Investors purchased 46% fewer homes YoY in Q4 2022**, while overall US home sales fell 41%. [U.S. home prices are up less than 1% YoY](https://www.redfin.com/news/investor-home-purchases-q4-2022/)—compared with 15% growth one year ago—and have fallen 11% from their spring 2022 peak. - **The monthly mortgage payment on a typical single-family home is up 58% YoY** (or $720). “A slowdown in home prices is underway and welcomed, [particularly as the typical home price has risen 42% in the past three years](https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/nearly-nine-in-10-metro-areas-posted-home-price-gains-in-the-fourth-quarter-of-2022),” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. Only 18% of metro markets posted double-digit annual price appreciation in Q4 2022, while this number was 46% in the previous quarter. - **The ‘missing middle’ would help the housing shortage and in turn improve affordability**, but it often faces local opposition. Housing experts say that introducing new laws that legalize denser options like [townhomes, duplexes, and small apartment buildings are key to ending the severe housing shortage. ](https://www.npr.org/2023/02/11/1155094278/states-cities-end-single-family-zoning-housing-affordable) ### 📊 PlanOlabs Insights *Proprietary insights into the SFR industry from our research and consulting team* Photo courtesy of PlanOlabs by PlanOmatic A recent study found that using professional photography decreased days on market by almost 11% and increased price / square feet by 10%. [See all the details and findings here.](https://www.planomatic.com/does-professional-photography-matter-when-leasing-properties/) For more PlanOlabs insights, [visit our blog](https://www.planomatic.com/blog/). ### 🔍 I Like Big Data (Releases) And I Cannot Lie   [*All the relevant data releases from the past month*](https://www.planomatic.com/key-sfr-data-release-summary-march-2023/)   - The **Consumer Price Index** increased more than expected: 0.5% in January, after increasing 0.1% in December - The **Small Business Optimism Index** remains well below its 49-year average, with job openings and hiring plans standing out as one of the few bright spots for small business owners - CoreLogic’s **Single-Family Rent Index** rose by 6.4% year over year in December 2022, compared with the 12.1% gain recorded in December 2021   [For the rest of the housing and economic indicators we track, ](https://www.planomatic.com/key-sfr-data-release-summary-march-2023/)[check out the full blog post here.](https://www.planomatic.com/key-sfr-data-release-summary-for-february-2023/)   ### 📰 SFR In The News *Everyone knows this stuff and you should too* - [Invitation Homes](https://s28.q4cdn.com/264003623/files/doc_financials/2022/q4/Q4-2022-Supplemental_FINAL-r.pdf) **and** [AMH](https://s29.q4cdn.com/671712101/files/doc_financials/2022/q4/AMH-Fourth-Quarter-2022-Earnings-Release-and-Supplemental-Information-Package.pdf) report on Q4 2022 and the 2022 fiscal year - [Lessen](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mike-rothman-founder-and-chairman-of-sms-assist-remarks-on-strategic-impact-of-2-25-billion-proptech-merger-301735098.html) acquires SMS assist in $2.25B proptech merger - [Home Partners of America](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jennifer-deason-appointed-chief-executive-officer-of-home-partners-of-america-co-founder-and-current-ceo-william-young-to-transition-to-non-executive-chairperson-301741995.html) appoints Jennifer Deason as new CEO - [OfferPad](https://www.realtrends.com/articles/offerpad-right-sizes-to-navigate-the-shifting-market/) announces a second round of layoffs since September 2022 - [Blackstone’s](https://www.wsj.com/articles/blackstones-big-new-idea-leaves-it-bruised-d66de361?mod=djem10point) new "Breit" idea leaves it bruised *The Beaker is a bi-weekly briefing from *[*PlanOmatic*](https://www.planomatic.com/)* on the economy, housing, and the forces shaping both. Have something we should cover? Reply to this email.* *Follow us: *[*LinkedIn*](https://www.linkedin.com/company/planomatic)* | *[*planomatic.com*](http://planomatic.com/) [View full post](https://www.planomatic.com/blog/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full) ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "PlanOmatic" }, "dateModified" : "2026-05-19T17:27:56.839Z", "datePublished" : "2026-05-19T15:45:39Z", "headline" : "Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full? 🧪", "image" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 768, "url" : "https://marketing.planomatic.com/hubfs/LinkedIn%20NewsletterArticle%20Headers%20%28Website%29%20%285%29.png", "width" : 1366 }, "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://www.planomatic.com/blog/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 60, "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png", "width" : 60 }, "name" : "PlanOmatic Insights" } } ```