TIAA Bank’s John Pataky talks homebuyer demand

This week, the Housing News Podcast features a bonus crossover episode from HousingWire’s Daily Download. In this episode, HousingWire Digital Producer Alcynna Lloyd interviews John Pataky, TIAA Bank’s executive vice president, who discusses the nation’s lack of housing inventory and how that is impacting homebuyer demand and home prices.

Here is a small preview of the interview with John Pataky, lightly edited for length and clarity:

HW: John, mortgage rates have obviously been a hot topic this year as they have stayed below 3% for many consecutive weeks, boosting homebuyer demand and acting as a counterweight for the U.S. economy, which is struggling amid the worst public health crisis in more than a century. In your own words, how did mortgage rates impact the 2020 home-buying landscape?

John Pataky: Well, I think that’s one of those classic $64,000 questions. Certainly, we are at all-time lows. For those of us who’ve been in the industry a long time, we’ve gone through many peaks and valleys of great environments, but this is a unique one as some of the low rates are directly and indirectly tied to the worst public health crisis in a long time. It also has to do with the Fed’s attempt to stimulate support for the economy in the markets by continuing to lower the benchmark rates down to zero. But clearly, I think the good thing that lower rates did on the home-buying landscape was to allow some fuel for the engine. I shudder to think had rates not continued to drift lower, we might be in a very different situation.

The Housing News podcast explores the most important topics happening in mortgage, real estate, and fintech. Each week a new mortgage or real estate executive joins the show to add perspective to the top stories crossing HousingWire’s news desk. Hosted by Sarah Wheeler and produced by Alcynna Lloyd.