Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies’ Post

The repair needs of the US housing stock far surpass the resources available but addressing housing deterioration is a crucial step towards ensuring community health, stability, and equity write Carlos Martin, Alan Mallach, Todd Swanstrom, Austin Harrison, and Sophia Wedeen in a new RWJF funded paper. https://lnkd.in/egCiKNmp

To buy a single-family home in Boston, you need a household income of $217,000. The staggering — though maybe not surprising — number released recently through the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, raises an important question: If that’s the bar for buying a home in Greater Boston, who can afford it, asks Boston Globe Media in a new article out today. https://lnkd.in/dh9Naw-f

Looking for housing data? Our website now features a searchable, sortable collection of all the recent data tables we've published! #housing #data #research https://lnkd.in/d-ji3P9t

Saving for a home and retirement feels like a far-off goal for many, especially millennials who aren’t high earners. It takes an annual household income of at least $100,000 to afford the median-priced home in nearly half of all metro areas, according to our latest report. A job loss or medical bills can postpone the ability to save and buy a home even longer. https://lnkd.in/ettBJjXK

Lower-income renters continue to face extraordinary financial hardships, as the competing costs of food, energy, and housing make it nearly impossible for some to cover basic needs, writes Sophia Wedeen in a new blog. #housing #rent #renters #affordability https://lnkd.in/e9V_EEvd

Conversations about urban neighborhoods and social justice are expanding to include art and wellness. In her new Meyer Fellowship paper, Aisha Densmore-Bey, DDes, RA, NCARB, LEED AP examines the use of arts-based real estate development to create positive change in communities of color. https://lnkd.in/eX49b9WV

LISTEN: High housing costs are pushing more Americans to find roommates, including baby boomers and empty nesters. Our Jennifer Hrabchak Molinsky joined Deb Becker on the WBUR program On Point to discuss the growing trend of intergenerational living. #housing #olderadults https://lnkd.in/e3_mg8Gg

“It's the fundamental sin in our disaster policy in this country, that everything is based on property and possession,” says Carlos Martin. Many renters have less wealth, and receive less government assistance after disasters, than homeowners, and suffer more severe and long-term financial impacts as a result. https://lnkd.in/eJ8hbWfD

In 2022-2023, 6 million people immigrated to the US, far outpacing the 900,000-person annual average in the 2010s. These new arrivals are already having an impact on the #housing market, but their full effect on household growth will take some time to be fully realized, writes Riordan Frost in a new blog. https://lnkd.in/eprx385R

After a modest downturn, homeowner expenditures for improvements and repairs are expected to trend up through the first half of 2025, according to our latest Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA). The LIRA projects that declines in annual spending for renovations and maintenance to owner-occupied homes will ease to just -0.5 percent through the second quarter of 2025. https://lnkd.in/e2E3VWjE