The backdrop for the HIVE (Housing Innovation Vision Economics) Home Builder Survey was a shortage of housing and a serious housing affordability challenge – some would call it a crisis – in many parts of the nation. By surveying top single-family and multifamily builders around the United States, it was possible to identify key issues of interest to the homebuilding industry....
This brief describes five novel and replicable programs that are providing housing for low- and moderate-income Americans....
While there has been significant research on the formation and impact of Community Land Trusts (CLT), less has been written on either the obstacles that have stymied the growth of existing CLTs or the strategies used by the handful of CLT leaders who have significantly expanded their group’s housing portfolios....
While we typically think of family households as homeowners, renters are more likely than homeowners to have children in their household. However, migration, development, and tenure trends over the last decade have affected the availability of rental housing suitable for families. For low-income households with children, finding an affordable, right-sized, and safe unit can be a significant challenge....
The 30-percent of income standard is a widely used and accepted measure of the extent of housing affordability problems across the country. While simple and easy to implement, the measure is not perfect. The limitations of the 30-percent standard have long been recognized: its rigid uniformity amidst a diverse and ever-changing array of affordability challenges raises questions about its validity over time and across markets and household types. ...
While gentrification raises fears of displacement, it also offers some hope because the growth in higher-income households in previously poor areas can help to shore up city tax bases and possibly spur economic and racial integration....