In the Media

New research from Harvard University shows that 2 million homeowners are behind on their mortgages and 6 million renters are behind on their rent payments.

The annual State of the Nation’s Housing from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies highlights the disparities in the housing market that were exacerbated by the uneven impact of the pandemic.

For millions of Americans, said Chris Herbert, “the opportunity to live in homes that are good quality and in communities that are on an upward trajectory are limited.”

Separately, millions more renters are "on the brink of eviction," the Harvard researchers found. Census data show that 6 million households are still behind on rent and could face eviction at the end of June, when federal eviction protections expire.

The housing market may be hotter than ever, but not everyone is reaping the benefits. A report Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) released on June 16 found that inequalities that existed before the pandemic are persisting and policymakers need to take action to ensure those affected don’t fall even farther behind.

“The short story is that we simply haven’t been producing enough housing,” said Daniel McCue, with the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard.

Separate data from the Harvard report said that 17% of renter households were behind on their rent in early 2021. Racial disparities also persist among renters, with 29% of Black, 21% of Hispanic and 18% of Asian renters behind on payments compared with just 11% of white renters, the report stated.

The top-line facts are striking. Home buying is up to the highest rate seen since the peak of the housing boom in 2006. And the number of people unable to either buy a home or spend less than a third of their income on housing is near a historic high.

Home prices went up by double digits in 85 of the 100 largest metro areas, creating wealth that propped up existing owners, said Daniel McCue, a senior research associate at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

“Millions of households were financially unscathed coming out of the pandemic,” said Alexander Hermann, senior research analyst at the Joint Center for Housing Studies. “But the pandemic has left millions of others struggling to make their housing payments, especially lower-income households and people of color.”