In the Media

High insurance rates are now raising the cost of a home even more, creating yet another barrier to ownership. “Insurance functions like a glue that helps the housing finance system stick together,” wrote Steve Koller, postdoctoral fellow in climate and housing at the Joint Center for Housing at Harvard University. “In short, insurance helps make homeownership possible and preserves hard-earned home equity when hazards strike.”

Estimates of the national housing shortage vary widely, from 1.5 million houses and apartments to 20.1 million. Most experts estimate a shortage of 1.5 million to 5.5 million, according to Daniel McCue, a senior research associate at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

A rising number of seniors are “cost burdened” when it comes to housing, according to a 2023 study by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. About 11 million older adult households spend at least 30 percent of their income on housing and utilities, up from 8.8 million in 2011. Older women feel this economic stress more keenly, because they have less saved for retirement then men.

"[Point Access Blocks] are well suited to small- and medium-scale parcels, and with one less stair, and way less hallway, can achieve much higher floor plan efficiencies than their double-loaded counterparts," a 2024 report on Boston's market from Utile, Inc. and the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies states bluntly.

Vulnerable Americans have been hard hit during the post-pandemic years as many government supports ended, including the eviction moratorium. At the same time, housing costs are surging, causing a record number of renters to be cost-burdened, or paying more than 30% of their income on housing, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

There’s tension over how much, if at all, government should subsidize people at high risk of damage from natural disasters. Can subsidies ever be justified? Yes? Then what if the main beneficiaries are wealthy families, who are more likely to buy in scenic areas that produce lots of claims? “There’s not going to be universal consensus on what’s fair and what’s not,” says Steve Koller, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

A reduction in state-backed plans isn't necessarily a sign of progress, says Steve Koller, a postdoctoral fellow in climate and housing at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Riordan Frost at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies said the biggest factor for most people is cost. “Affordability in general has become a nationwide issue, and so I could really see that driving people to move out, especially if they’re trying to purchase a home,” he said.

The average age of first-time home buyers has risen rapidly in many countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Ireland. In the U.S., half of households spent at least 30% of their incomes on rent and utilities in 2022, a record high, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Unable to meet most requirements for a mortgage on a home, immigrants living in the U.S. illegally often rely on extremely affordable rental housing. And multigenerational living is more common due to economic necessity, said Riordan Frost, a senior research analyst with the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. In recent years, he added, members of the millennial generation — not immigrants — have driven the rise in new households, especially during the pandemic. “It’s important to push back against the argument that housing for one group comes at the cost of another,” Frost said.