After years as a housing economist, it becomes clear that the numbers only tell part of the housing story. On paper, it is straightforward. Prices, incomes, and interest rates interact to determine affordability. In practice, it is far more complicated because those numbers are filtered through human behavior, perception, and trust. That gap between what is true and what people believe to be true is at the crux of today’s housing market dynamics. Many borrowers are convinced affordability is...