What's New
Tenure and Location Choice among Hispanic Households
October 2019
Persistently large gaps in homeownership between whites and Hispanics are...
As Home Prices Soar, Utah Lawmakers Want To Help Low-Income Residents Pay Their Rent
WBUR
The most salient issue in the current housing market is...
Addressing Homelessness: What Can (and Can’t) Architecture Do?
March 2020
Over the past two decades, Michael Maltzan, FAIA and his...
As Home Prices Soar, Utah Lawmakers Want To Help Low-Income Residents Pay Their Rent
WBUR
The most salient issue in the current housing market is...
Leader of L.A.’s Homelessness Agency to Resign
The New York Times
Peter Lynn’s tenure has been marked by a frustrating contradiction:...
OK Boomer, Who’s Going to Buy Your 21 Million Homes?
The Wall Street Journal
New research from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies...
Addressing Homelessness: What Can (and Can’t) Architecture Do?
March 2020
Over the past two decades, Michael Maltzan, FAIA and his...
In Pursuit of Equitable Development: Lessons from Washington, Detroit, and Boston
April 2020
Equitable development, a new concept in planning and community development,...
Tenure and Location Choice among Hispanic Households
October 2019
Persistently large gaps in homeownership between whites and Hispanics are...
The American Dream or Just an Illusion? Understanding Land Contract Trends in the Midwest Pre- and Post-Crisis
August 2019
This paper examines contract for deed activity across six Midwestern...
The Shifting Profile of First-Time Homebuyers: 1997-2017
August 2019
Who are recent first-time homebuyers? What kinds of homes do...
Research and Tools
Mortgage Journeys: A Video Ethnography of the Homebuying and Mortgage Process
November 26, 2019
Prior research suggests that comparison shopping for mortgages when purchasing a home helps secure a lower interest rate. Yet we have only limited data about the mortgage shopping behaviors of lower- and moderate-income (LMI) homebuyers and how those behaviors may influence mortgage outcomes. This paper presents new ethnographic data about how LMI first-time homebuyers access information and how that information shapes their mortgage shopping in three phases of the homebuying process....
Read More
Shared Equity Housing: A Review of Existing Literature
November 21, 2019
This literature review provides an overview of existing literature on the topic of shared equity housing programs in the U.S. It seeks to identify common elements, benefits, and drawbacks of four shared equity housing models: community land trusts, limited-equity housing cooperatives, deed restriction programs, and resident-owned communities....
Read More
Exit from Homeownership by Low-Income Households
November 12, 2019
One of the justifications for federal involvement in the homeownership market is that it provides one of the few ways that low-income households can accumulate wealth. But this did not happen over the past couple of decades. This paper explores one explanation for this outcome, the relatively high likelihood of a change in tenure from owning to renting that was brought upon by the recent downturn in the housing market the precipitated the Great Recession. ...
Read MoreBlog
Research Assistant
Chicago Development Highlights Collaborative Efforts to Preserve Housing and Develop Sustainable Communities
Monday, December 02, 2019
In her closing remarks at the recent Foundations for the Future of Housing Conference, Julia Stasch, past president of the...
Read More
Senior Industry Fellow
The Freddie Mac G-Fee Discount: Has the Single Security Eliminated It for Good?
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
When I joined Freddie Mac as CEO in 2012, I knew that, despite it being a giant company with $2...
Read More
Deputy Director
VIDEO: Innovative and Collaborative Approaches to Solving Housing Affordability
Monday, November 25, 2019
Innovative and collaborative approaches to the growing challenge of housing affordability were the focus of Housing + Innovation: Lessons from...
Read More
JCHS Community Service Fellow
Does Shared Equity Housing Work?
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Shared equity housing strategies are drawing increasing interest from people in all corners of the housing and community development field....
Read MoreCalendar
Excessive Mortgages, Financial Well-Being, and Financial Skills Among Older Homeowners
Date: Friday, December 06, 2019
Location: One Bow St, 4th Floor
Over the last few decades, the share of older homeowners with mortgage debt has doubled, while the typical amount of outstanding debt relative to home values has tripled.