When Amanda DeRise’s father sent her a listing for a 140-year-old six-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, in 2024, her first thought was that it needed a lot of work. Her realtor even called it a “money pit.”

But Amanda, 32, and her husband, Vincent, 34, saw potential in the home.

Amanda and Vincent decided to start saving for their future home in 2021, but quickly realized a new build or freshly renovated property would be out of their budget, Vincent says. It’s why the listing Amanda’s father sent her seemed to be perfect for them, she says.

The location would also allow Amanda to take the local ferry into New York City for work.

The couple’s realtor told them the house was for sale by an older man who had raised his family there and did not want to sell it to an investor.

“I wrote a nice letter to the older man stating that we want to take care of this house and bring it back to its former glory,” Amanda says.

The three decided on a sale price of $550,000 — $90,000 under the asking price. The DeRises closed on the house on Halloween night in 2024 with a 15% down payment of $82,500. They obtained a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 7.125% rate and a monthly payment of just under $3,900, including taxes and insurance, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

The next step: Renovating the property piece by piece.

Amanda and Vincent moved into the house in November 2024 and started renovations just a few weeks later, which included taking down the second floor to the studs, adding central air and modernizing the house while preserving its charm.

They say the house was in pretty bad condition when they first bought it. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls, the windows needed to be redone and the siding needed updating.

During the renovation, the couple wanted to make sure some of the original features of the house were restored. They had the original window trim replicated, kept what they think is an original light fixture in the dining room and used a lot of furniture left by the previous owners.

They have made changes to the layout, though, such as combining two of the bedrooms to create a larger primary bedroom.

Amanda and Vincent estimate they’ve spent about $172,000 on renovations, which they’ve funded through personal savings, a 401(k) loan and selling equity from a former employer, they say. So far, the most expensive parts of the renovation have been the siding and the windows, which totaled around $70,000.

In addition to income from their 9-to-5 jobs — Amanda is an administrative assistant at a fintech company and Vincent is a director of revenue operations at a SaaS company — the couple earn money from TikTok’s Creator Fund. They started sharing their renovation journey on TikTok in November 2024 and currently have 41,000 followers, with several of their videos getting over 600,000 views.

Amanda says sharing their journey on TikTok helped them get a brand deal to get free paint for parts of the house.

Living in the house while renovating it was the hardest part of fixing it up, Amanda says. The couple slept in the living room while they renovated the second floor.

“We had moments where windows were being blown out as we’re living in here. The home was always a construction zone because it was pretty major projects going on,” Vincent says.

They could have rented an apartment during this period, but didn’t want to spend additional money, Vincent says.

To stretch their budget as far as possible, the couple not only lived in the home but also downgraded their car and canceled subscriptions such as YouTube TV.

Although they are getting ready to welcome a their first child, the couple says the renovations are still not done and won’t be for several years. In fact, Amanda says the joke is that they probably will never be done. “There will always be something to do,” she says.

The couple has yet to renovate the house’s third floor, which includes Vincent’s office and the attic. The kitchen also still needs work, which Vincent and Amanda hope to complete in the next few years.

“I don’t want to make it feel like a modern kitchen,” Amanda says. “I definitely want to keep the charm of an older home.”

However, the couple say they are enjoying the process, especially the items they’ve found inside the house. Their findings include a Stan Musial 1948 rookie baseball card, handwritten letters from the 1930s, a purse with old shopping receipts from 1925 and a vintage breast pump.

The discoveries have the couple thinking about what they could put into the walls for future owners to find.

“We have just been collecting some random items, some of our own that we plan to put maybe in the floorboards in the attic or, while we’re renovating more rooms, put them in the walls,” Amanda says.

Vincent says he was originally against buying the house because of the work it needed, but thought it would be a good investment given the town and its location.

In 2025, Netflix closed on a deal to buy Fort Monmouth, a former Army base less than 10 miles from Atlantic Highlands. The company plans to build a $900 million campus that will include 12 soundstages, backlot areas and production facilities, NBC reports.

“One thing about the home is that we always knew it was going to be a good investment. It’s an exciting place to be,” Vincent says. “There’s a lot of renovations happening across the county and the town, so we always just thought that this home would be the right type of investment, especially because we believe we’ll be here for a very long time.”

Going forward, “We’re excited to continue to make this home our own,” Amanda says.

“Maybe someone in 100 years looks at some of the work that we’ve done around the home and sees our touch to it,” Vincent adds.

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More than 100 years ago, IQ (intelligence quotient) established what it means to be intelligent. Then came along EQ, which broadened the meaning with emotional intelligence.

Both were helpful frameworks for the time and context which they emerged, but now our world in-flux demands something new: AQ (agility quotient), which I define as the ability to handle change, uncertainty, and the unknown. As an executive coach to founders and CEOs, I’ve found that AQ is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a non-negotiable orientation toward life.

In my new book, “AQ: A New Kind of Intelligence for a World That’s Always Changing,” I break down the four AQ Archetypes. Identifying yours can help you understand the skills you have at your disposal for handling stress, solving problems, and tackling crises.

This is you if…

• You know what habits work for you and you stick with them.
• In your personal relationships, you value people who have known you for the longest time.
• You will take calculated risks if there is a solid plan in place.
• When faced with an unexpected challenge, you initially feel worried: How can I fix this situation?

Neurosurgeons are motivated by excellence: They hold every aspect of their life to the highest of standards, moving with diligence, conscientiousness, and hard-won expertise.

Strengths: The Neurosurgeon is steadfast and determined. Once they commit to something, they never give up until they’ve succeeded. Neurosurgeons are also a steady and stabilizing force for everyone in their lives, and a source of incredible expertise at work.

Challenges: The Neurosurgeon’s perfectionism can become a fear of failure. They see the world with more skepticism than optimism, and this leads to them saying no to change more than they say yes. They are slow in times of turmoil.

Antidote: The Neurosurgeon must learn to befriend discomfort. They grow by forcing action and decisions at a faster pace than what is typical for them, extending the boundaries of their comfort zone.

This is you if…

• You regularly try out new habits and try to improve what works for you.
• At work, you need lots of space and freedom in your schedule.
• You will take risks if it creates more autonomy for independence.
• When faced with an unexpected challenge, you initially feel annoyed: This wasn’t part of my plan!

Novelists are motivated by freedom: They are unafraid to deviate from the past; thus, they thrive in situations where they are allowed to change directions whenever they want. Freedom gives them the agency to write their own story.

Strengths: The future-­forward Novelist is at the leading edge of their field and up-­to-­date on the latest news. There’s always a bold goal, a big insight, or an exciting book to discuss. Their enthusiasm for proactive change is inspiring to those around them.

Challenges: The Novelist uses change as a way to avoid difficult situations. In hard times, they’d rather pivot than persevere to the finish. Also, when unwanted change rocks the Novelist’s world, they can become overwhelmed and lash out.

Antidote: The Novelist only grows once they learn how to let go of their plans and expectations. When change happens, they must work hard to fight their natural inclinations and embrace reality. Peace comes for the Novelist once they can see the silver lining in unwanted change.

This is you if…

• The wilder a situation gets, the calmer and more focused you become.
• You’re so skilled at in-the-moment responses that you can often neglect planful, future-oriented endeavors. You figure, Everything is always changing. Why waste time with plans that won’t stick?
• You’ll take risks when you have the capacity to deal with the outcome.
• When faced with an unexpected challenge, you initially feel calm: Life is always in flux anyway.

Firefighters are motivated by impact: The Firefighter is an expert at fixing what others believe to be unfixable. Doing work that really matters is a necessity, and they thrive on seeing the tangible results of their efforts.

Strengths: The Firefighter excels when most people would feel stressed out, anxious, or paralyzed. They have an upbeat attitude and a calm demeanor. They see possibility in impossible situations and aren’t deterred by setbacks and surprises. In fact, these shocks keep the Firefighter’s mind sharp and alert.

Challenges: All the time spent fighting fires leaves very little room to be intentional and strategic about the future. Because they do well in emergencies, the Firefighter can tolerate high levels of stress, and sometimes may create chaotic situations, because that’s where they feel comfortable.

Antidote: The Firefighter must push themself to become as adept with proactive change as they are with unwanted change, making the time on a quarterly or annual basis to draw up big­-picture plans.

This is you if…

• You believe that imagination is more important than knowledge.
• You believe that risks are essential to innovation and progress.
• You truly believe that you can do anything you put your mind to.
• When faced with an unexpected challenge, you initially feel accepting: This isn’t what I wanted, but I can make it work.

The Astronaut is motivated by passion: Astronauts follow their passion, whether personal or professional. Their vivid interests and curiosities inform every action and decision. Their intense enthusiasm drowns out any fear, so they hardly register big shifts that can unravel other people.

Strengths: The Astronaut is fast. They are quick to evolve and pivot, moving more swiftly than the other Archetypes. Another gift is authenticity. They are unapologetically themselves, with a unique approach to their life. This combination of speed and passion creates a bold and decisive personality

Challenges: The Astronaut can be so absorbed in their passion that they overlook the boring and tedious details needed to embark on their grand adventure. They may feel like they’re making great strides mentally, but that progress isn’t always reflected in the real world. The Astronaut’s goals may stall from poor follow­through or difficulty rallying others behind their vision.

Antidote: In order to make the most of their natural agility, the Astronaut must learn how to slow down to translate their bold aspirations into digestible and logical components. To find success, they must buckle down to complete the tasks and responsibilities that aren’t their passion but are still necessary.

Even if there were parts of your archetype’s description that didn’t feel 100% like you, don’t dwell on them. The purpose of this exercise is not to match your paradigm perfectly but to give you a thematic lens for self-observation.

These archetypes are intended to be maps, not photorealistic portraits, and like the best maps, they allow for many possible routes. The primary goal is to spend time appreciating you.

Liz Tran is an executive coach to CEOs and leaders and the founder of an AI coaching startup, Inner Genius. She is also the author of the new book ”AQ: A New Kind of Intelligence for a World That’s Always Changing.” Her work has been featured by The New Yorker, The New York Times, TODAY and Bloomberg.

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Account manager Matt Richards, 23, deleted all his social media apps from his phone last year, and was surprised to find that his life changed for the better.

Richards had been using a smartphone since he was 11 years old and grew up with the device like most Gen Z and millennials. However, in the past few years, he noticed social media didn’t feel as fun anymore with artificial-intelligence slop dominating his feed, influencers advertising brands, and constant lifestyle comparison.

“I think people back then used to take a break from the real world by going on their phone, but now people are taking a break from their phone to spend time in the real world,” Richards told CNBC Make It.

As many of his Gen Z friends also caught on, he noticed instant benefits, from connecting with people in real life to feeling more confident about himself.

Going chronically offline is the latest trend to grip young people, and ironically it’s going viral on social media. There’s been a surge of TikTok videos of people vowing to delete social media apps in 2026 and engage more with in-person and analog hobbies.

When I discovered the trend, I decided to post on LinkedIn to see if there were any young people willing to speak to me about going offline. To my surprise, I received nearly 100 responses from Gen Z and millennials sharing stories about social media detoxes and digital burnout.

They talked about ditching their smartphones for flip phones, visiting record stores to buy vinyl, taking up analog hobbies like knitting, and most importantly, connecting with their friends in person.

A 2025 Deloitte consumer trends survey of more than 4,000 Brits found that nearly a quarter of all consumers had deleted a social media app in the previous 12 months, rising to nearly a third for Gen Zers.

Meanwhile, social media use has steadily declined since time spent on the platforms peaked in 2022, according to an analysis of the online habits of 250,000 adults in more than 50 countries by the Financial Times and digital audience insights firm GWI.

Globally, adults 16 and over spent an average of two hours and 20 minutes per day on social platforms by the end of 2024, down almost 10% since 2022, the report found. The decline was particularly pronounced among teens and 20-somethings.

Jason Dorsey, president of the Center for Generational Kinetics, said the increased “nastiness and divisiveness” online, including from leaders and politicians, is driving young people away from social media as they seek out greater control of their lives.

“We’re seeing that a group of Gen Z [and millennials] is choosing to leave social media entirely, and probably a larger group that’s choosing just to limit social media as they regain more of what they’re trying to find: balance and security and safety in their life,” Dorsey said.

Young people who are deleting their social media platforms cite the increasing pressures of being online as well as damage to their mental health as causes.

Deloitte’s consumer survey showed that almost a quarter of respondents who deleted social apps reported these apps had negatively impacted their mental health and consumed too much of their time.

“I feel like social media is now more like a pressure platform … you’re being sold everything, everywhere,” Richards said, adding that it influenced his own feelings of not having enough stuff or accomplishing enough in his career.

Similarly, 36-year-old entrepreneur Lucy Stace said she’s limiting her social media use because it’s “diminishing” her mental health despite it being essential to her business.

“We are just inundated all of the time with so much information … our brains aren’t capable of handling that much information,” she said. “We’re actually diminishing our brain’s capacity to be able to look inward and listen to ourselves, and we’re value tagging all of these things that aren’t actually important to us.”

Tech giants face “tremendous pressure” to monetize everything and drive revenue and profit, said Dorsey, which can be off-putting to younger generations.

“The result of that is that Gen Z, who are already sensitive to being advertised to — they are the most advertised-to generation in the history of the world — now they’re getting advertised to even more, and their feeds feel just [like] commercial after commercial,” Dorsey said.

As the tide shifts against social media, account manager Richards noted that those who have gone offline have become more interesting. In the past, it was cooler to have lots of followers, but that appeal has faded, Richards noted.

“We’re definitely seeing a trend where people that are offline, unreachable, have a sort of cool factor around them, in terms of this person doesn’t need validation from how many likes or followers (they have) … and living life like they were in the 80s,” he said.

Social media manager Julianna Salguero, 31, said that social media stopped being cool when politicians and brands started using the platform.

“The more that we see brands and government officials and everybody being as online as you are, as a casual user, the more you’re going to want to pull back and switch it,” Salguero said.

As the digital generation struggles to make friends and find partners, they’re instead seeking out in-person events like speed dating and professional networking, citing high levels of loneliness and isolation as a key driver.

The University of Sheffield’s digital media lecturer, Ysabel Gerrard, said going offline is a way for young people to take back control of their lives. Social media forces users to go through an “extremely exhausting process” of having to create an identity and edit themselves, she said.

“There’s an unbelievable wealth of literature now to tell us that the person we are on social media is not, and cannot be, the same person who we are in face-to-face settings,” Gerrard said. “It’s so much more than a trend.”

GWI analyst Chris Beer said he believes this is a “legitimate post-pandemic correction,” since people are spending less time at home and therefore less time on social media.

This shift is “largely due to structural time allocation,” he said, especially for younger users, rather than “an attitude-driven wholesale rejection of digital media.” Social media is still very integrated into people’s lives in areas including shopping, news and education, Beer said.

In a Substack post in September that got 5,000 likes, Salguero expressed a yearning to have lived life in the ’90s when dating apps and doom scrolling weren’t a prerequisite of young adulthood.

Her article, titled “How to have an analog fall,” wasn’t about doing digital detoxes or setting timers to limit social media use. Instead, Salguero outlined all the hobbies one could have outside of social media — from going on lunch dates to writing physical letters and opting for tangible media like newspapers.

Salguero said going analog is a “quiet revolution” against social media, streaming, and content overload.

“When you spend too much time in that world, it’s rewiring your brain to perceive things algorithmically, where I’d rather perceive things as I come across them,” she said. “So for me, the going analog of it all isn’t necessarily throwing my phone into the ocean, it’s more about, ‘How do I reset my relationship with it?’”

Indeed, young people are increasingly turning towards physical media as they seek a break from digital life. Some are purchasing vinyl and record players, while others are getting flip phones, a relic of the 2000s.

Stace and her boyfriend have started building a record collection and visit record stores when they can, she said.

Richards, after deleting all the social media apps off his smartphone, said his conversation with CNBC Make It has motivated him to purchase a “brick phone” too, reverting back to the time when phones were primarily used to call people.

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Matt Kaeberlein got into studying the science of longevity “by accident,” he says.

Kaeberlein is the founder and former director of the Healthy Aging and Longevity Research Institute at the University of Washington, and the co-founder and CEO of a health tech startup called Optispan. Throughout his career, he’s published hundreds of research papers, including many about aging.

In 1998, as a graduate student studying biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kaeberlein attended a biology professor’s lecture about genetics and its connection to longevity, he says. “I was in my late 20s, so aging wasn’t personal yet, but the complexity of the biology just really resonated with me. It seemed like an important problem,” says Kaeberlein, 54.

Kaeberlein joined the professor, Leonard Guarente, in his lab and decided to conduct his graduate research on longevity. “Now, much of my attention is focused on individual people and learning how we can have a positive impact on people’s health span,” says Kaeberlein.

A health span — similar to a lifespan — is defined as how long you live without conditions that can hinder your quality of life, like chronic pain and dementia, Alan Cohen, an associate professor at the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at Columbia University, told CNBC Make It in December 2022.

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Despite researching longevity for decades, Kaeberlein “didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about” applying his research to his own habits and lifestyle until he started experiencing lower energy levels and aches and pains in his 40s and early 50s, he says.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, Kaeberlein decided to “become really intentional about improving my lifestyle factors,” including his nutrition, exercise, sleep and sense of social connection, he says. Around the same time, he transitioned from academia into entrepreneurship — co-founding Optispan, which advertises personalized longevity-focused medical care for its clients, in September 2023.

Here, Kaeberlein discusses how he’s changed his personal routines in an attempt to improve his longevity and health span. (Always consult with your primary care physician before making any changes to your own routines that could impact your health.)

CNBC Make It: What do you do to keep your body physically healthy?

Kaeberlein: It’s always going to be individual, but I think there are some general principles around movement [that anyone can follow].

You want a diversity of movement, meaning some consistent, low-intensity [physical activity] — what some people call “zone two exercise,” where you’re raising your heart rate regularly. Optimally, you do something at a low level every day. Maybe that’s just walking outside.

I’ll do about 30 minutes on a bike or elliptical in the morning. Or if it’s nice out, go outside for a walk with my wife. I don’t do that every day, but most days. I think many people can relate to this: I have a better day if I’m active early in the morning.

I try to do resistance training four times a week. I split up the workouts by body parts. I don’t think there’s a magic formula, you just got to get into the gym and do it. You can do body weight if that’s better for you. I’ve always liked lifting heavy weights, so that’s what I do. Most people probably [don’t recognize] how important it is to build and maintain muscle mass going into your 40s [and older].

And then the high-intensity [workouts]. Again, it’s about finding something that works for you. What works really well for my wife and I is, there’s a set of 135 stairs in a nearby town, about 15 minutes from our house. Usually once a week, we’ll go to the stairs, rain or shine, and go up and down 10 to 15 times. We listen to music and do it together.

How about brain health? Do you do anything specifically to try to keep your brain sharp?

Learning new things is one really great way to “exercise your brain.” I think with my job, I don’t need to find ways to learn new things. I’m always reading and learning and trying to understand new trends in the space.

Part of this is about figuring out a way to stimulate your brain that you find enjoyable, and that brings you energy. It’s very similar to physical exercise in the sense that if you feel like this is a huge burden and you don’t want to do it, you’re not going to stick with it in the long run.

I try to go to bed at a pretty regular time, at least on weekdays. I get up at 4:30 a.m., and my wife and I typically go to bed around 9:00 to 9:30 p.m. I try to get seven to eight hours of good quality sleep a night.

Longevity experts often talk about the importance of ”social fitness,” maintaining friendships and connecting with other people. What’s your social fitness like?

The “connection” pillar is the one that I think is the weakest for me. I’m very fortunate to have a strong marriage, and that has been the most important relationship, along with my kids, for most of my adult life.

I’ve tried to make intentional efforts to have periodic and consistent time with friends outside of my family. Taking time to go have coffee with friends once a month, if possible. Really trying to prioritize key relationships, making sure they’re being nurtured by consistent touch points.

I wasn’t [always] somebody who would typically strike up a conversation with a stranger in the elevator, but I’m much more open to those kinds of micro-interactions on a daily basis [now]. When you have a really positive conversation with somebody who you’ve never met before, that brings energy and you feel good afterwards. Or if you see somebody who could use a helping hand, even if it’s just taking their bag down on the airplane, or holding the door open.

Trying to have those kinds of positive interactions and being intentional about it has been beneficial for me.

Let’s talk about your daily diet. Are there any foods that you eat either more or less to improve your health and wellness?

I make a dedicated, intentional effort to largely avoid processed foods like chips and breakfast cereal, [especially ones] that have added sugars. I have really learned to love salads. If somebody told me 10 years ago, you’re going to have a choice between super nachos or a steak salad at a Mexican restaurant, and you’re going to pick the steak salad, I would have been like, “You’re crazy.” But I do that today.

I eat a lot of yogurt. I pay attention to protein, and probably get about a gram of protein per pound of body weight. And I get a lot of fiber, usually about 60 to 80 grams of fiber a day, [including] a lot from vegetables.

One thing I like, and I’m waiting to see [more research on it] because it almost seems too good to be true, is Keto bread. It typically has 10 to 12 grams of fiber per slice. One of my go-to meals is an avocado sandwich with Keto bread. Sometimes I’ll put some lean turkey in there. It’s got a bunch of fiber, a bunch of protein and healthy fats.

I always end with this question because I think it’s interesting to see what longevity experts are looking into these days: What are you reading?

A lot of what I read is either the primary literature or other types of articles related to health and wellness.

One of the areas that I’m doing a deep dive on right now is peptides, and really trying to understand where a lot of them come from. What data do we have around different peptides that are being prescribed? How do they work? How likely are they to be beneficial? How dangerous are they potentially going to be?

I’m really trying to separate the signal from the noise because I get asked about it a lot, and I want to make sure that I really have a good understanding.

Here’s a quick summary of Kaeberlein’s health and wellness habits:

• For his physical health: Getting a combination of low-intensity and high-intensity exercise, strength training and cardio. Adjusting his physical activity as he gets older.
• For his brain health: Prioritizing a healthy sleep schedule of seven to eight hours of sleep a night. Constantly learning new things to “exercise” his brain.
• For his social fitness: Spending quality time with his family, and scheduling time once a month to catch up with friends. Engaging in “micro-interactions” with strangers in passing.
• For his diet: Eating a balance of vegetables and protein. Getting between 60 to 80 grams of fiber a day.
• For his media diet: Reading up on health literature to stay updated on new research and trends.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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There are two ways to get back to the level of home affordability Americans had for much of the last decade, according to Realtor.com. Neither looks realistic anytime soon.

In 2019, the mortgage payment for a median-priced home took up about 21% of median household income. Today, it accounts for more than 30%, reflecting sharply higher home prices and mortgage rates that have nearly doubled since January 2022, according to a recent analysis from the real estate listings platform.

Barring a sharp drop in home prices, Realtor.com calculates that getting monthly payments back to 2019 levels would require one of two things:

• Household incomes rising 56% to a median of $132,171, up from $84,763 today
• Mortgage rates falling to 2.65%, down from 6.15% as of Feb. 6

Neither option appears likely in the near term. Real median household income has risen only about 17% over the past 20 years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Mortgage rates are more likely to ease from their current 30-year fixed rate, though most forecasts still have them hovering near 6% through 2026.

Even at that level, affordability gains may be limited. The National Association of Realtors projects that home prices will rise about 4% in 2026 as renewed demand runs up against stubborn supply shortages.

“The U.S. housing market continues to grapple with a persistent mismatch between housing supply and buyer demand,” Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com, tells CNBC Make It. “If buyer demand strengthens without a corresponding increase in supply, renewed price growth is likely.”

A chronic shortage of homes continues to weigh on housing affordability. There is a nationwide housing shortfall of nearly 4 million homes, Realtor.com estimates, a gap that helps explain why lower mortgage rates or stronger wage growth alone may not be enough to deliver substantial affordability gains.

“You don’t really solve an affordability crisis by subsidizing demand through artificially cheap financing,” says Realtor.com senior economist Jake Krimmel. For costs to go down, the supply of homes has to better meet demand, he says.

Supply has been slow to catch up in part because zoning rules and lengthy permitting processes often limit how much new housing can be built or where it can go, according to a separate Realtor.com report from 2025.

Expanding housing supply through additional construction and policy changes remains critical to easing affordability pressures, particularly in supply-constrained markets, according to NAR.

At the federal level, lawmakers have introduced bipartisan proposals aimed at zoning, permitting and construction bottlenecks, though most remain in early stages.

More change is happening at the state level. Texas and California have passed laws to loosen zoning rules and streamline permitting, but the impact has been mixed so far.

The timeline for closing the housing supply gap also varies sharply by region, according to a 2025 Realtor.com report. At the current pace of construction and household formation, the report estimates the supply gap could close within three years in the South and six and a half years in the West. The Midwest would need roughly four decades. In the Northeast, the gap would not close at all under current trends.

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