In the Media

A new study finds that suburban neighborhoods outperform urban ones across the board.

Renting isn't just for recent postgraduates who can't afford a home anymore. In fact, America's fastest-growing group of renters is probably a whole lot grayer than you might think.

Vanessa Bulnes and her husband, Richard, bought their house on 104th Avenue in East Oakland, Calif., in 1992. The modest two-bedroom property is where they lived for 20 years, raising three children, and where Vanessa made a living running an in-home day-care center. After Richard had a stroke in 2008, reducing the couple to a single income, they fell behind on their mortgage and eventually lost their home to foreclosure.

A mismatch between the numbers of jobs and the number of job seekers in a neighborhood doesn't only hurt workers. It hinders the labor market too.

In 2010, the census tract encompassing most of Boston's Egleston Square flipped from majority-minority to majority white. And the median household income has increased. In 2000, it was just under $40,000; now it is almost $70,000. Thirty-five percent of households have incomes over $100,000.

In the past two years, homeownership rates have increased largely because of young buyers, who are benefiting from the good economy. Student loan debt is still a headwind, but they're at least being buoyed by stronger incomes and employment.

At the turn of the 20th century, many immigrants and working-class families claimed their share of the American dream in busy local labor centers like Lowell, Lynn, Brockton, and Fall River. A century later, already struggling in a postindustrial economy and downtrodden after decades of disinvestment, these cities were hit especially hard by the foreclosure crisis.

Policymakers warn that the housing crisis isn’t a problem technology can solve. Yet it’s intriguing to think what might happen if investors threw money more directly at this goal.

Diana Olick looks at the slowdown in home remodeling and what it means for housing stocks in 2019.

The fears of a slowing economy that sent stocks falling the past few months may be spreading to small business owners who have been quite optimistic in recent years. Recent economic reports and forecasts show some of the reasons why their confidence seems to be edging lower, including slowing growth in homeowner spending on remodeling and repairs.