Rent and home prices have seen major increases over the past year and in some places, they've hit record highs.
Howard said consumers have walked away even before signing their housing contracts, and this has been an issue nationwide. "What builders are doing to avoid that…is they're putting escalator clauses into their contracts," he explained. "[Customers] come in and say, ‘You want to build a house?’ I'll tell you how much I think it's going to cost, but I'll also say ‘I can't be held to that. You're going to be liable if it goes up,’" Howard stressed.
That’s good news.