In the Media

For most of recent American history, presidential campaigns have largely overlooked the question of housing, but in the 2020 campaign the Democratic presidential field is littered with proposals to ease the affordability crunch plaguing America's most prosperous cities.

The Marketplace Morning Report with the big takeaway from the State of the Nation's Housing 2019 – the US is not building enough new housing.

The 2019 edition of Harvard’s State of the Nation's Housing Report, released today, suggests a number of trends both positive and negative continue to create a country of housing haves and have-nots.

Wondering how much home equity you’d need to remodel your kitchen, or how much to budget for a new bathroom if you make an offer on that fixer-upper? New home improvement spending data compiled by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies can provide some real-world numbers to get you in the right neighborhood.

Spurred by swelling property values, owners remaining longer in their homes and a sluggish new-construction sector, the remodeling industry has boomed since the Great Recession, more than doubling to a record $425 billion in 2017, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

While the federal minimum wage has remained stuck at $7.25 since the aftermath of the financial crisis, rents have risen at a steady clip between 2.5 and 4 percent since 2012.

Sixty-five million households in the U.S. are now headed by someone over the age of 50, according to a report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, but only 3.5% of the country’s housing stock incorporates three vital features for aging in place: single-floor living, no-step entries, and extra-wide halls and doors, the report says.

Across the country, budget motels serve as semipermanent residences for thousands of families too poor or too financially unstable to afford regular rental units or get a decent apartment because there is so little affordable housing stock in the United States.

One decade after the financial recession, new home construction has remained relatively sluggish -- meaning that American homes are getting older, and as a result, homeowners are funneling more money into remodeling.

Home improvement spending continues to trend upward; the home improvement sector can thank the Baby Boomers for that.