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44 FANNIE MAE: PREPARING BEFORE DISASTER Fannie Mae reported that we've experienced 36 major disasters so far in 2019, and in honor of National Preparedness Month, the GSE met with Alex Amparo, Assistant Administrator of FEMA's National Preparedness Directorate, along with Mike Hernandez, VP for Housing Access and Disaster Response & Rebuild at Fannie Mae, to discuss the importance of preparing for better outcomes. Hernandez discussed how homeowners can prepare more than just their homes for a disaster? "After a disaster, you likely won't have access to your home—let alone the mortgage and insurance documents you keep in the bottom drawer of your office desk," Hernandez said. "Take pictures of your home and important documents that you may need and keep them on your phone. It's a step that's often overlooked, but it was critical for me when my home was affected by a fire two years ago. Without those pictures, I would not have the appropriate evidence of loss for insurance purposes." In a statement, Amparo discussed how homeowners can financially prepare for a disaster, as their place of work could be destroyed in a disaster. "Being financially prepared is one of the most important things we can do," Amparo said. "To start, keep emergency cash at home to have on hand if you need to leave your home quickly. To stem the impact of lost income, focus on savings. Sticking to a budget can be hard but saving even a small amount from every paycheck can make the difference during recovery." According to Hernandez, preparing for disaster starts at the building process. "Preparedness should include far more than financial steps and logistics," Hernandez said. "A comprehensive plan starts with building for resiliency. We know that not all homes were built with that in mind, and as events like hurricanes test the weather-resistance of housing, our HomeStyle Renovation product helps homeowners finance upgrades and renovations that impact resiliency, including retaining walls to protect from flooding, storm- resistant windows, and roof upgrades." WHAT STANDS BETWEEN MILLENNIALS AND HOMEOWNERSHIP? A new report by HireAHelper finds that while only baby boomers faced less affordable rent prices than Gen Xers and millennials, buying a home is out of reach for many millennials as income hasn't been able to keep up with rising home values. e report states that rent costs for baby boomers, when they were entering the housing market, were equal to 38.1% of monthly incomes. Rent costs equaled 35.9% for Gen Xers and 35.7% for millennials. According to the report, the average home for millennials is worth 6.4 years' of income, which is a 15% increase from the 5.6 years' of income for an average home for both baby boomers and Gen Xers. Information from HireAHelper shows that home values and the amount of income needed to buy a home have skyrocketed since 1970. In 1970, it took 5.18 years' of income to purchase a home, which rose to 6.76 years' of income by 2010. Home values have nearly doubled during the same time period, going from $97,100 in 1970 to $218,776 in 2016. "Other obstacles stand between millennials and their first home purchase: the burden of student debt, stricter home lending standards, and a shrinking supply of affordable housing," the report states. "Overall, homeownership is far less accessible to millennials than it was to previous generations in their early years of adulthood." e report adds that fewer millennials are able to graduate from renting to owning, and that 82% of renters view their current housing situation as more affordable than purchasing a home. Additionally, millennials live in their homes for shorter periods than prior generations. Millennials report moving every two years, on average, which is twice as often as Gen Xers at four years and three times more frequently than baby boomers who stay in a home for an average of six years. Seventy-three percent of millennials plan to move in the next decade, compared to just 58% of Gen Xers and 43% of baby boomers. of U.S. housing markets are unaffordable for average wage earners to buy a median- priced home. Source: ATTOM Data's "Top 10 U.S. Counties with Worst and Best Home Affordability" STAT INSIGHT 74%