In the Media

In a nondescript office over One Bow Street in Harvard Square, the Joint Center for Housing Studies keeps a finger on the pulse of America’s housing markets — and tries to connect city planners, advocates, and business groups to solve some of the country’s thorniest issues.

In a three-part series, the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University examined the loss of middle housing in Massachusetts in the context of the ongoing housing crisis that the state, and the nation, is facing. The series released six recommendations for how the state can reinvigorate the market for missing middle homes and, subsequently, help boost affordable housing options.

Regulators who approve premium hikes try to keep them at a minimum to prevent a price shock to policyholders. “But if the cost of doing business rises for an insurer and the regulatory regime doesn’t allow prices in the marketplace to rise at a commensurate level, then private insurers might simply choose to not do business in a certain area,” said Steven Francis Koller, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Home Depot’s results don’t capture the whole picture of what’s going on in the $600 billion home improvement industry, said Rachel Drew at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. Drew said the indicators she tracks — including potential buyers coming off the sidelines and increases in permits for larger projects — still point to slow but steady growth in home improvement going forward.

According to researchers, rent increases are outpacing growth in household income since 2001, leaving more Americans to spend over 30 percent of their income on housing — the generally accepted threshold of affordability.

According to the 2025 State of the Nation’s Housing report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, from 2020 to 2021, large metro suburbs saw an increase in residents, but smaller metro areas and rural counties saw larger relative populations moving in.

Buying a house, long a signifier of middle-class status, is considered the most dependable way to build wealth. But in Greater Boston, doing so requires a household income of $229,000, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. That’s more than twice the income needed 10 years ago.

“Many potential buyers are really maxed out on cost,” said Daniel McCue, senior research associate at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. “Lower interest rates can only get them so far.”

Rachel Drew, director of the Remodeling Futures Program at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, said the trend shows up clearly in her research. “It’s not uncommon for people to remake the house they’re in,” she said. “They like their neighborhood, they may not have the funds to move, or they have favorable loan terms they’re unwilling to give up.”

A recent study by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that renters who wanted to buy a home last year under terms typical to first-time homebuyers—a 30-year loan with a 3.5 percent down payment—were facing monthly mortgage payments of $2,570, 40 percent higher than they were in 1990.