Federal datasets underpin everything from health research and economic forecasting to climate science and housing policy. But today, these resources face unprecedented threats. On Oct 1, our friends at @shorensteinctr.bsky.social will unpack the current moment. shorensteincenter.org/new-event/va...

The sheer volume of Massachusetts' regulations for building new housing can drive up the costs in significant ways. For example, the requirement for two stairwells along with other fire safety regulations can add 15-25% to the cost of a project. @bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/21/o...

LIVE NOW: Our @dmccue.bsky.social shares the Center's projections for household and homeownership growth over the next decade (tldr: significant slowdown ahead). www.jchs.harvard.edu/calendar/loo...

TODAY @ 2pm ET: Our senior research associate Daniel McCue discusses how shifting demographics, a persistently challenging homebuying environment, and changing immigration policies will affect household formation in the coming decades. @dmccue.bsky.social mailchi.mp/harvard/proj...

Even with a slight drop in interest rates, “unaffordability is going to be here for a while,” said our managing director Chris Herbert. The typical buyer needs to earn $126K a year to afford the median home price, a 60% jump from the $79K required in 2021. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Fed rate cuts influence how banks determine loan rates and could contribute to a trend of interest rates slowly decreasing over time. Here’s what this means for your mortgage, car loan and savings account:

In 2023, the US experienced a record-breaking 28 disasters for which damages reached or exceeded $1 billion, but recent federal policy changes leave the future of home mitigation and post-disaster assistance uncertain, writes @sophiawedeen.bsky.social. www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/disaste...

Due to shifting demographics, a persistently challenging homebuying environment, and changing immigration policies, fewer households are likely to form in the next decade. This Friday: @dmccue.bsky.social shares our homeownership & rentership projections. www.jchs.harvard.edu/calendar/loo...

Today @ MIT, @mc-lens.bsky.social discusses the evolution of Black neighborhoods over the past five decades (in person only) + this Friday, @dmccue.bsky.social projects homeownership & rentership in the coming decade (online, registration required). mailchi.mp/harvard/blac...

The Ivory Prize, an annual award recognizing innovative, feasible, and scalable solutions to advance housing affordability, is now accepting nominations. www.ivoryinnovations.org/ivory-prize

The lawsuit maintains that service providers in states with severe housing problems are being shut out from competing for funding because those states don’t conform with the president's agenda on issues like immigration and treatment for transgender residents. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

I am shocked -- shocked! -- to learn that housing prices fell the most in metros where inventory of homes increased by a lot. via @harvard-jchs.bsky.social www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/home-pr...

Between June 2024 and June 2025, home prices in America fell in metro areas where available housing inventories increased from June 2019 levels. Prices rose in metro areas where inventory is still below June 2019 levels. @harvard-jchs.bsky.social

Home prices are declining in markets where inventories have soared while they continue to climb in markets where for-sale inventories remain tight, says @pjwhit.bsky.social in a new blog. www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/home-pr...

The construction labor shortage has been growing for about two decades; most estimates project that the US needs to add around half a million people to the construction workforce for each of the next few years in order to meet housing demand. @bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/10/r...

Students across @harvard.edu are invited to our Open House this Friday @ 3pm + our Fall Event Calendar is now posted! Join us for online events about missing middle housing, fire codes, transit-oriented housing, and more. @gsd.harvard.edu @harvardkennedy.bsky.social mailchi.mp/harvard/open...

LISTEN: Our @jenmolinsky.bsky.social discusses how the dream of aging in place is colliding with the reality of inaccessible and unaffordable housing across the US. viewpointsradio.org/the-hidden-h...

Happy #MapMonday! How much did each metro area depend on immigration for growth last year, and which ones will therefore feel the effects of the recent slowdown most acutely? Find out in the interactive map in my new @harvard-jchs.bsky.social blog post: www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/metro-a....

According to @harvard-jchs.bsky.social study, homeowners with lower incomes spent significantly less on all types of remodeling and repairs and were by far the most burdened by these expenses.

The number of homeowners in the U.S. has fallen ever so slightly, by 0.1% year over year. That's a relatively small drop, but it's also the first time homeownership has declined in nearly a decade.

The drop in immigration could undercut household growth and housing demand in the years ahead, writes @riordanfrost.bsky.social. This is especially true for large metros and those outside of the Sunbelt, which have been dependent on immigration in recent years. www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/metro-a...

LISTEN: @pjwhit.bsky.social discusses the escalating costs of housing and long-term care, particularly home-based care, and how these costs disproportionately affect older adults, especially minorities and women, on the Risking Old Age in America podcast. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...

The move would tee up housing affordability as a key issue ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, and would be the first national emergency related to housing declared since the collapse of the housing bubble drove the U.S. into the 2008 financial crisis. time.com/7313848/trum...

New research from @pewtrusts.org finds that new housing slows rent growth most for older, more affordable units, and not allowing more homes to be built—even for high-income residents—pushes up all rents. www.pew.org/en/research-...

Students from @harvard.edu and other universities are invited to participate in a 24-hour virtual hackathon to formulate and pitch innovative ideas to improve housing affordability. $12K in prizes, register @ www.hackahouse.org @gsd.harvard.edu @harvardkennedy.bsky.social youtu.be/AhGIv55NrAg?...

Research shows that criminalization and encampment clearing doesn’t solve #homelessness. In a new post, Urban #research experts highlight evidence-based solutions like #housing vouchers and supportive housing to address homelessness in DC and beyond.

Two years after a wildfire took everything, Maui homeowners are facing a new threat: Foreclosure. grist.org/housing/two-... #Hawaii #Maui #Homes #Indigenous #Foreclosure #Wildfire #Wildfires #Disaster #Politics

Today's affordability crisis is undercutting tomorrow's homeownership rate. This new paper projects a 1.6pp decline in the HO rate by 2035 on the low end and a 0.8 pp increase on the high end. The low scenario accounts for today's unaffordability by applying historically low HO gains to <35 cohorts.

Employees at FEMA warn that the administration has reversed much of the progress made in disaster response and recovery since Hurricane Katrina two decades ago. Hurricane Katrina caused an estimated 1,833 deaths and $161 billion in property damage. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/c...

Our new ten-year projections reflect a general slowing of growth in both homeowner and renter households. @dmccue.bsky.social @riordanfrost.bsky.social www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/decade-...

Amid a worsening national affordable housing and homelessness crisis, the administration's proposed HUD changes include a two-year limit on the federal government’s signature rental assistance programs. @apnews.com apnews.com/article/hud-...

The White House says dozens of homeless encampments have been dismantled in Washington DC. But it's not clear where the people who were living in them have gone. www.npr.org/2025/08/18/n...

This summer, several @harvardkennedy.bsky.social students had internships that addressed homelessness, displacement, and sustainability in US cities through our Fellowship in Housing & Community Development. Learn about their projects and their impact: www.hks.harvard.edu/more/student...

While rents have climbed everywhere across Massachusetts, they’ve gone up faster in some parts of the region than others. Find out where your community stands with this tracker.

“In 2023, over a third (34 percent) of older households were cost-burdened, paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing.” www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/one-thr... via @harvard-jchs.bsky.social #housing+ #urbanism+ #urbanism

California missed the deadline to roll out fire regulations that could have protected homes from the devastating LA wildfires

"It's like a bandaid on a gunshot wound. It's not providing an actual solution to what the problem is, which is high cost of living and not enough mental health resources. You remove people, but what problem does that fix?" - DC commuter Melissa Velasquez @apnews.com apnews.com/video/dc-res...

WATCH: In our 2023 event, Gregg Colburn (author of Homelessness is a Housing Problem) explained how housing market conditions, such as the cost and availability of affordable rental housing, offer a better explanation for homelessness than mental illness, drug use, etc. youtu.be/ZoNQAdX9jyo?...

A new high of over 12.4 million older households are cost burdened, and cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance in the recent reconciliation bill will mean diminished support for the most vulnerable households, writes @jenmolinsky.bsky.social. www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/one-thr...

Our report found that home prices across the country are up 60% since 2019 — and rising. Here are five takeaways from the report for local government leaders. www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/5-takea...

Any changes in the conduct of a national census would require alterations to the Census Act and approval from Congress, which has oversight responsibilities. @apnews.com apnews.com/article/trum...

New report from @harvard-jchs.bsky.social offers key reforms to unlock middle housing in Massachusetts; 🏡Allow in all residential areas 🚗Reform min parking reqs 📐Reduce min lot sizes 🏘️Reduce setbacks 📜Streamline review 🏗️Remove commercial code requirements www.remainplaces.com/post/small-s...

Members of Homes for All Mass, a coalition of housing groups across the state, plan to file an initiative petition with the state attorney general's office Wednesday, marking the deadline for ballot question backers to submit signatures and proposed language needed to start of a lengthy process.

In response to the need for 200K new homes in the next decade, Massachusetts can use missing middle housing as a tool to infill vacant or under-capacity lots in cities and towns. A new paper outlines 6 zoning and regulatory reforms to help make this happen. www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/expandi...

"Policymakers need to find a way to balance the rights of developers against those of tenants," said @airbrycki.bsky.social in a panel yesterday. That could mean incentives for building affordable housing, along with a baseline of tenant protections. www.masslive.com/politics/202...

The Casita Coalition Build the Middle Conference is Aug 13-15 in Pasadena. Speakers include: Noerena Limon, Casita Coalition CEO and Terner Center Fellow; Kara Murray-Badal, Terner Labs; ‪@david-garcia.upforgrowth.org, Terner Center Affiliate; and other housing leaders. Register: ow.ly/UskV50WAcME

For decades, builders ignored irregular lots, but as usable land becomes increasingly limited in urban areas, cities and states are changing zoning to allow for housing on odd plots and land traditionally reserved for single-family homes. @patrickcsisson.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/08/02/b...

Units are ~ 280 square feet with a bathroom & kitchenette. The building includes 2 wheelchair accessible units and shared amenities such as lounges, bike storage & laundry. The couple privately funded the project and intend for it to remain affordable in perpetuity. www.boston.com/news/local-n...

The ROAD to Housing bill, the most substantial housing package since the 1990s, unanimously passed the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. It was a historic markup for the committee, which hadn't held one on housing in 17 years, but will it help affordability? www.newsweek.com/what-new-roa...

Few low-income homeowners have money saved for home maintenance and while repair expenses can cause financial hardship, deferring them can increase long-term expenses, while also threatening the residents’ health and wellbeing, writes @sophiawedeen.bsky.social. www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/home-re...