In the media

Newspaper, phone, and a coffee cup

Our research is regularly cited in national and local news outlets; below is some of our recent press coverage.

To be added to our media list, or if you have an interview request, please contact [email protected] and include your name, press affiliation, phone number, questions/topic, and your deadline. Please do not email our researchers directly. 

(For copyright permission, complete form and send to [email protected])

Forbes

America’s Next Housing Crisis: How The Pandemic Is Pushing Renters To The Brink

Overall measures of rental housing affordability and security improved only slightly during the pre-pandemic economic expansion. In 2018, even as the national unemployment rate was slipping to generational lows, nearly 21 million renters were classed as cost burdened, spending more than 30% of income on rent and utilities, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The Washington Post

One home, a lifetime of impact

“Systemic racism leads to lower rates of education and lower incomes among blacks, which in turn lead to lower credit scores and a lack of savings,” says Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. “That accounts for about three-quarters of the homeownership gap, but one-fourth couldn’t be directly explained by lower incomes and lower rates of education.”

WBUR

Massachusetts Moratorium On Evictions And Foreclosures Extended To Mid-October

“The eviction moratoriums aren’t forgiving the rent — they’re just saying that the renter can’t be evicted,” said Whitney Airgood-Obrycki, a researcher at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. “So for a lot of cash-strapped renters in particular, it’s going to be even harder a couple of months down the line to pay several months of rent.”

Los Angeles Times

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, a Black housing crisis gets worse

Nationwide, 55% of Black renters spent more than 30% of their income on housing in 2016, the typical threshold at which experts say costs begin to crowd out other necessities. That compares with 54% of Latino households and 43% of white households, according to an analysis of census data from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The Washington Post

Tips for handling a major renovation

Widespread unemployment and economic uncertainty are anticipated to dramatically slow the pace of remodeling projects, according to a report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The report says spending on remodeling will sharply decline this year and into 2021.

Associated Press

Renters face financial cliff ahead; limited help available

Renters already faced a dire situation before the pandemic hit, said Alexander Hermann, a researcher at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Then came the pandemic, which hit renters particularly hard financially.

Vox

America’s looming housing catastrophe, explained

Before the pandemic, of America’s nearly 43 million renters, about 20.8 million — almost half — were “cost-burdened,” meaning more than 30 percent of their income went to housing costs, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.