A new Urban Institute analysis found that young adults in high-cost U.S. metropolitan areas are substantially more likely to reside with their parents, a development linked to rising rents and limited housing supply.
A new University of California, Irvine working paper concluded that California’s mandatory inclusionary zoning policies significantly reduce housing production, estimating that the state’s typical affordable housing requirement cuts annual residential construction by nearly one-third while imposing substantial costs on market-rate renters.
Congress approved the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, the most significant federal housing legislation in over three decades, sending it to President Trump’s desk amid escalating concerns over housing affordability, as highlighted by recent Harvard University data.
An editorial from The New York Times board contends that resolving the national housing affordability crisis necessitates a substantial increase in housing production, citing Austin, Texas, as a model where eased zoning regulations and developer incentives contributed to more accessible housing costs.
California’s housing affordability crisis is driven by a shortage of homes and a political system that has made it too difficult to build them, according to Bowman Cutter, who says state and local leaders must confront supply constraints if they want rents and home prices to fall.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers released a report arguing that government-imposed barriers have become a major driver of the affordability crisis, and that reducing regulatory burdens could increase the housing stock by 9%, or 13.2 million homes.
The US is short at least 4 million homes, and economist Chris Hughes argues that reforming the Federal Home Loan Bank System to prioritize affordable housing could help address the shortage.
Austin, Texas has seen a 16% decrease in median rent between 2021 and 2026 due to the construction of 120,000 new housing units, demonstrating that increasing housing supply can help to ease price pressure.
New housing construction in the US is increasingly out of reach for first-time buyers, as homes grow larger and more expensive, with the shift toward larger homes reducing the number of entry-level homes and limiting homeownership to older, higher-income buyers.
The data from the City of Davis’ housing production report shows that the city has built very little housing overall, particularly ownership housing, and that increasing housing supply is one of the most practical ways to address affordability pressures.
The Village Farms development in Davis, California is projected to have an average sales price of $740,000 for medium-density homes, but the actual cost will depend on a variety of fluctuating factors, and the project will also include 360 affordable rental units, making the claim that all homes will start at $740,000 misleading.
A new study from the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality has found that new housing stock in six high-growth metropolitan areas primarily served moderate- and higher-income households, while lower-income households experienced higher rent growth than higher-income households.
The argument that declining birth rates will eventually relieve housing pressure is flawed, as it ignores the economic, migratory, and climate forces that will shape demand far more powerfully than fertility trends in the decades ahead, and the housing crisis is a present shortfall that needs to be addressed now.
Institutional investors are being blamed for driving up home prices, but the real cause of the affordability crisis is chronic undersupply of housing due to restrictive zoning, procedural delays, and legal challenges.
Ned Resnikoff argues that the housing affordability debate has shifted to a contradictory phase in which critics of new housing construction rely on abstract theory while dismissing empirical evidence showing that expanded housing supply improves affordability.
The America First Policy Institute released a housing policy brief arguing that excessive regulation, fees and permitting delays are contributing to the housing affordability crisis and proposing a supply-focused agenda to restore access to homeownership for American families.
A newly published paper in the European Economic Review finds that construction – specifically the supply and price of buildings – plays a central role in determining workers’ wages and the share of income going to labor, with important implications for housing policy.
Despite the challenges of the statewide housing mandates, California cities are making progress in increasing housing production, as evidenced by the recent approval of the first project under San José’s new streamlined infill policy and the progress of Fresno’s Southeast Development Area plan.
Montgomery County, Maryland has seen a drastic decrease in multifamily building permits since the adoption of rent control, raising questions about the effectiveness of such policies in increasing housing supply.
The US is facing a housing crisis due to a shortage of housing in the places where people want to live, which is driving up prices and pushing people out, and requires bold and evidence-based action to increase supply and make housing more affordable.