Harvard?s annual report shows that housing shortages are pushing housing costs up, and pricing out low-income Americans The annual State of the Nation?s Housing report, produced by the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University, offers an opportunity to step back and assess where things stand from year to year, and this year?s report?the 30th Harvard has produced? paints the picture of America?s housing as increasingly scarce and increasingly expensive.
Housing construction has grown every year since the housing bust in 2008, but the pace of that construction is slowing down as construction material, labor, and land have become more expensive. This has led to fewer homes being on the market, and a worsening housing shortage. Meanwhile, with the unemployment back down to pre-crisis levels, every generation in U.S. is looking to buy a house, creating intense demand for housing at a time when there?s little supply, particularly in urban centers. The result is soaring home prices and rents that are outpacing wage growth for low- and middle-income Americans.
Here are key factors highlighted in the report, and how they?re contributing to affordability problems in the U.S. housing market.
Construction costs, land-use regulation slowing down housing construction
Prior to the housing bust, the U.S.had a housing oversupply. Today, the nation faces the opposite problem?a housing shortage. While housing construction has grown every year since the housing bust, ...