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A Fed study finds theyre also cutting other expenses to pay the rent

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• More renters are paying their rent on time, but many are falling behind on other bills and cutting spending to make ends meet.

• Plans to buy a home have dropped sharply, with the share of renters expecting to take out a mortgage within six months falling from about 15% to 6.4% in one year.

• The biggest decline in homebuying intentions occurred among younger adults, parents, higher-income renters, and stock owners.

Struggling to pay the rent each month is a common challenge, and lately it seems to be getting harder. New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that more Americans who rent their homes are managing to pay their rent on time, but many are doing so by sacrificing other parts of their finances.

The report, based on the bank's Labor, Income, Finances, and Expectations (LIFE) Survey, found that while housing payment performance has improved over the past year, renters are increasingly skipping other bills, reducing spending and feeling less financially secure. At the same time, aspirations to become homeowners have fallen dramatically.

About one in five renters surveyed in January 2026 said they had been unable to pay their rent on time or in full during the previous three months. That's an improvement from roughly one-quarter of renters reporting payment difficulties in late 2024 and early 2025.

More than 50% are rent burdened

Concerns about eviction also declined, and fewer renters blamed missed payments on temporary cash shortages. However, about 12% continued to report financial problems they expected to persist.

The study estimates that 53.5% of renters remain "rent burdened," meaning they spend more than 30% of their gross income on housing.

Researchers found evidence that many renters are staying current on rent by making difficult financial tradeoffs elsewhere.

Reducing spending

Nearly two-thirds of respondents reported cutting back on spending over the previous year, including both discretionary and essential purchases. More than one-third said they had paid less than the full amount dueor skipped payments entirelyon debts or monthly bills such as credit cards, utilities or medical expenses. Those figures were higher than a year earlier, suggesting broader financial stress despite improvements in rent payments.

The financial strain appears to be affecting confidence as well. More renters reported feeling less financially secure than they did a year earlier, even as fewer struggled with rent payments.

Perhaps the most striking finding involved homeownership plans.

Only 6.4% of renters surveyed in January 2026 said they expected to take out a mortgage within the next six months, down sharply from around 15% in January 2025. The decline was especially pronounced among renters ages 18 to 35, households with children, renters who own stocks, and those with higher incomes.

The report suggests that while renters may have become more successful at prioritizing housing payments, persistent affordability challenges and broader financial pressures are making the transition to homeownership increasingly difficult.

The measure requires a single price for all consumers

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• New Jersey lawmakers have approved the Fair Price Protection Act, making the state the second in the nation to ban surveillance pricing at grocery stores.

• The bill would prohibit retailers and grocery delivery platforms from using consumers' personal data to charge different shoppers different prices for the same food items.

• Supporters call the measure a consumer protection against AI-driven price discrimination, while critics warn it could complicate loyalty programs and personalized discounts.

New Jersey is on the verge of becoming the second state in the nation to outlaw "surveillance pricing," a controversial practice in which retailers use consumers' personal data to determine individualized prices for groceries.

The New Jersey Legislature last week approved the bipartisan Fair Price Protection Act, sending the measure to Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who is expected to sign it into law. If enacted, the law will take effect one year after signing.

The legislation would prohibit grocery stores and third-party grocery delivery platforms from using artificial intelligence, algorithms or other technologies that rely on consumers' personal information to set different prices for identical food products. The ban also applies to pricing based on data gathered through electronic surveillance, including shopping histories, online activity, biometric information, genetic information and certain protected characteristics.

Abuse of modern technology

"Surveillance pricing is an abuse of modern technology where artificial intelligence sets different prices for different customers," said state Sen. Joe Cryan, one of the bill's sponsors. "Retailers hurt consumers at a time when families already struggle to pay their bills."

The legislation also imposes a one-year moratorium on the installation of new electronic shelf labels, or digital price tags, in grocery stores while the state studies whether the technology could facilitate rapid, individualized price changes. Stores that already use the labels would be allowed to continue using them.

Surveillance pricing has drawn growing scrutiny from lawmakers, privacy advocates and consumer groups who argue that advances in AI and data analytics could allow retailers to charge shoppers based on what algorithms predict they are willingor ableto pay rather than offering a single price to everyone.

Prices based on personal data

Unlike traditional dynamic pricing, which adjusts prices based on supply and demand, surveillance pricing relies on personal information such as browsing behavior, purchase history, location or demographic data to tailor prices to individual consumers.

New Jersey follows Maryland, which earlier this year became the first state to prohibit surveillance pricing for grocery purchases. Several other states, including New York, are considering similar legislation, reflecting growing concern over AI-driven pricing practices.

Consumer advocates praised the New Jersey measure as an important safeguard against discriminatory pricing. Business groups, however, argue the legislation could have unintended consequences.

They contend that restrictions on using customer data may make it more difficult to offer targeted coupons, loyalty rewards and other personalized discounts that many shoppers value. Lawmakers say the bill includes exemptions intended to preserve legitimate loyalty programs and broadly available discounts while prohibiting discriminatory pricing practices.

For different reasons, both buyers and sellers are on the sidelines

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• The U.S. housing market remains frozen by a "mortgage lock-in" effect, with millions of homeowners reluctant to give up 3% mortgages and buyers priced out by high home prices and elevated borrowing costs.

• Real estate experts say a nationwide housing crash is unlikely because a long-running shortage of homes continues to support prices, even as affordability has reached its worst levels in decades.

• Most analysts expect the market to remain sluggish through the rest of the decade, with modest price growth, more negotiating power for buyers and regional differences replacing the pandemic-era housing boom.

The spring home-selling season ended on a subdued note, as fewer homeowners put their properties on the market, reflecting caution among both buyers and sellers. Sellers have withdrawn listings at a record rate as buyers have balked at record-high home prices.

The story of how we got to this point where millions of Americans cant afford to buy a home and whether the market will ever return to normal goes back to before the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2020, the median price of an existing home according to the National Association of Realtors was $266,300, a 6.8% increase from the year before.

However, at that price, the monthly payment with 20% down and a 6% mortgage rate was about $1,277, before taxes and insurance. By January 2026, the median home price had climbed to $396,800, an increase of more than $130,000 in six years. The mortgage payment on that home had risen to roughly $1,900, with taxes and insurance pushing the monthly housing cost to around $2,300.

Building houses had not become dramatically more expensive during that period. Instead, economists point to an unusual convergence of events: record-low mortgage rates, pandemic-driven demand for more living space, years of underbuilding after the Great Recession and millions of millennials entering their prime home-buying years.

Market standoff

"In tons of markets people aren't necessarily under pressure to sell but they are choosing not to sell because of the fact that they have 3% mortgages," Jim Chamberlin, a Realtor at Vulcan7, told ConsumerAffairs. "What that has done is create a market where buyers don't really love today's prices, but sellers don't have much reason to discount either."

That phenomenon has become known as the "mortgage lock-in effect." Millions of homeowners refinanced or purchased homes during 2020 and 2021 when 30-year mortgage rates fell below 3%. Selling today would likely mean financing another home at more than twice that rate, dramatically increasing monthly payments even if the replacement home cost about the same.

The result is a housing market that appears frozen. Buyers face some of the least affordable conditions in decades, while existing homeowners have little financial incentive to list their properties. Inventory has improved from the extreme shortages of the pandemic years but remains below the level economists consider a balanced market.

Despite the affordability crisis, the experts we consulted see little chance of a nationwide collapse in home prices.

Price fundamentals still intact

"I don't believe we will see any significant fall in home prices," said Kaine Arkinson, managing director at Shepherd Commercial. "The fundamental support for pricing, namely chronic undersupply and consistent demand, remains intact. The issue is now affordability and wage growth."

Instead of a crash, Arkinson expects a prolonged period of sluggish price movement in which home values remain relatively flat while incomes gradually catch up. He predicts annual price appreciation of just 1% to 3% over the next four years, meaning inflation-adjusted home values could actually decline slightly.

Salim Chraibi, founder and CEO of workforce housing developer Bluenest, agrees that supply remains the market's defining issue.

"The structural reason is simple: we do not have enough homes," Chraibi said. While some Sun Belt markets that experienced heavy pandemic-era construction are already seeing price declines, he expects national prices to remain resilient because demand still exceeds supply in most regions.

Effect of the pandemic

Chraibi believes today's affordability problems would look very different had the pandemic not occurred. Without historically low mortgage rates, remote-work migration and the buying frenzy they unleashed, he estimates the median U.S. home price today would likely fall between $310,000 and $340,000 rather than nearly $400,000.

"The more damaging legacy of those low rates is the lock-in effect," he said. "Homeowners sitting on 2.5% to 3% mortgages are not selling. That is compressing resale inventory in a way that will take years to unwind."

Other real estate professionals reached similar conclusions.

Mike Chambers, CEO of AI home-buying platform Ridley, estimates the median home price today would likely range from $325,000 to $375,000 if the pandemic-era buying boom had never occurred. While ultra-low interest rates accelerated appreciation, he argues the underlying housing shortage would still have pushed prices higher over time.

"The pandemic accelerated demand in ways we rarely see," Chambers said. "Those forces compressed many years of appreciation into a relatively short period."

Alexei Morgado, founder of Lexawise, a company providing services to the real estate industry, said a significant nationwide correction is unlikely without an economic shock that forces large numbers of homeowners to sell.

"What I see now is a change in expectations," Morgado said, noting that buyers have become increasingly focused on monthly payments, while sellers who continue to price homes as they did during the peak of the pandemic often face longer selling times and must make concessions.

That distinction between prices and affordability has become a defining feature of today's market. While home prices have largely stopped their rapid ascent, elevated mortgage rates mean monthly payments remain near record highs for first-time buyers.

Regional impact

The experts also agree that the housing market is becoming increasingly regional. Areas that saw explosive pandemic growth, particularly parts of Florida, Texas and the Mountain West, are experiencing softer prices as inventory increases. Meanwhile, many Midwestern and Northeastern markets continue to post price gains because housing supply remains especially limited.

Looking ahead, none of the experts expect a return to either the frantic bidding wars of 2021 or a repeat of the housing crash that followed the 2008 financial crisis.

Instead, they foresee a slower, more balanced market where buyers regain negotiating leverage, homes take longer to sell and sellers must price properties more realistically. Price appreciation is expected to remain modest, but affordability is unlikely to improve dramatically unless mortgage rates fall meaningfully, wages rise faster than housing costs, or the nation substantially increases home construction.

For would-be homebuyers, that means patience may be rewarded with more choices and greater bargaining power, but not necessarily with dramatically lower prices. The consensus among industry experts is that America's housing affordability crisis is more likely to be solved by adding millions of new homes than by waiting for existing home values to fall.

Where generic products shineand where name brands still win

• Store brands have improved dramatically. Generic medications, pantry staples, frozen produce, and many household essentials often deliver similar quality for a lower price.

• Shop smarter, not by brand. Compare unit prices and ingredient listsyou may be paying extra for a familiar label rather than a better product.

• Some categories are still personal. Coffee, cereal, ketchup, and certain snacks may be worth the splurge if you prefer the taste or performance.

Private-label products have come a long way. From pain relievers to frozen vegetables, many store brands now rival national brands in both quality and performance.

That doesn't mean every generic product is automatically the better buy. While some categories offer virtually identical products at a lower price, others still have meaningful differences in terms of taste, performance, and ingredients.

Here's where store brands can help you save money, and where paying extra for a national brand may still make sense.

Over-the-counter medications are easy savings

If you're still buying brand-name pain relievers, allergy medicine, or heartburn medication simply because you recognize the name, you may be spending far more than necessary.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires approved generic medications to contain the same active ingredient, strength, dosage form, and intended use as their brand-name counterparts. They must also meet the same manufacturing and quality standards.

That means store-brand ibuprofen works the same way as Advil. Generic acetaminophen contains the same active ingredient as Tylenol. The same principle applies to many allergy medications, acid reducers, and cold medicines.

The biggest difference is often the packaging, and of course the price.

Pro tip: Ignore the logo on the front of the box. Turn it over and compare the active ingredient panel. If the ingredients and dosage match, the generic version is often an easy way to cut your pharmacy bill.

Pantry staples rarely justify paying extra

Walk down the baking aisle and you'll find national brands sitting next to store brands that often contain nearly identical ingredient lists.

Products like flour, sugar, salt, rice, dried beans, pasta, oats, baking soda, and canned vegetables are commodities. Most shoppers would be hard-pressed to notice a difference once they're incorporated into a recipe.

Instead of focusing on the brand name, compare the ingredient list and the unit price. Many shoppers are surprised to discover they're paying 20% to 40% more simply because they're accustomed to reaching for a familiar label.

Pro tip: Pick one pantry staple each shopping trip and switch to the store brand. If your family doesn't notice the difference, make it your new default.

Frozen fruits and vegetables are another win

Fresh produce isn't always the freshest option. Many frozen fruits and vegetables are harvested at peak ripeness and frozen shortly afterward, helping preserve flavor and nutrients.

Whether you're buying broccoli, peas, corn, mixed vegetables, berries, or mango chunks, the differences between national brands and store brands are often minimal.

For making things like smoothies, soups, casseroles, and side dishes, store-brand frozen produce can deliver excellent value.

Pro tip: Buy plain frozen vegetables instead of seasoned versions. You'll usually save money and have more control over sodium levels and the added seasonings.

Store brands have become brands in their own right

Retailers no longer see private labels as "cheap alternatives." Instead, they've become an important part of their business strategy.

Brands like Kirkland Signature, Great Value, Good & Gather, Bettergoods, Simple Truth, Member's Mark, and Aldi's exclusive labels have built loyal followings by focusing on quality while keeping prices below national competitors.

Many shoppers who initially tried store brands to save money continue buying them because they like the products and not simply because they're less expensive.

That shift has encouraged retailers to expand into more premium products. You now often see store-brand premium coffee, organic foods, specialty cheeses, frozen meals, and gourmet snacks.

Categories where paying more may still make sense

Coffee is one example where some people will balk at going to a generic grind or whole bean. This is because many strongly prefer a specific roast or flavor profile.

The same goes for things like breakfast cereal, ketchup, mayonnaise, soft drinks, barbecue sauce, and certain snack foods.

In these categories, the decision comes down to your own taste, not clever marketing.

The takeaway here is instead of replacing everything at once, experiment one product at a time. You just might discover that generic Greek yogurt becomes a permanent purchase, while your favorite coffee remains worth the splurge.

Pro tip: Conduct a blind taste test at home. Remove the packaging and let family members choose their favorite. You may be surprised how often the less expensive option wins.

Household basics deserve a second look

The savings don't stop in the grocery aisles. Paper towels, trash bags, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, cleaning sprays, dish soap, bleach, and many paper products often have lower-priced store-brand alternatives.

Performance can vary more than with pantry staples, so it's worth experimenting and testing out certain products. For example, you may decide that generic glass cleaner works perfectly fine while continuing to buy your preferred name-brand dishwasher detergent.

The goal isn't to replace every national brand but to identify where paying more no longer makes sense from a value perspective.

Pro tip: Start with smaller packages when trying a new household product. If you like it, then you can buy the larger size the next time you need it.

Five more ways to maximize your savings

• Compare unit prices, not package prices: Keep in mind that the lowest sticker price isn't always the best deal. Check the unit price to see what you're really paying per ounce, pound, or item.

• Don't shop only one retailer: One store may have the best private-label dairy products, while another excels in frozen foods or pantry staples.

• Read reviews: Many grocery apps and retailer websites include customer ratings that can help identify standout store-brand products.

• Watch for satisfaction guarantees: Some retailers will refund or replace store-brand products if you're not satisfied, making it virtually risk-free to try something new.

• Keep an open mind: The generic product you tried five years ago may be very different today. Retailers continually reformulate and improve their private-label offerings.