The State of Affordable Housing Around the U.S. - United Way NCA (2024)

FAQs

What is the problem with affordable housing in the US? ›

National Shortage of Affordable Rental Housing. The U.S. has a shortage of 7.3 million rental homes affordable and available to renters with extremely low incomes – that is, incomes at or below either the federal poverty guideline or 30% of their area median income, whichever is greater.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE? Public housing is limited to low-income families and individuals. An HA determines your eligibility based on: 1) annual gross income; 2) whether you qualify as elderly, a person with a disability, or as a family; and 3) U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status.

The United States is not building enough homes to account for the number of people setting up their own households. As a result, there is a sizable shortage of new homes after more than a decade of under-building relative to population growth, according to a new analysis from Realtor.com released Wednesday.

About six-in-ten U.S. adults living in urban areas (63%) say that the availability of affordable housing in their community is a major problem, compared with 46% of suburban residents and 40% of those living in rural areas.

What problems arise when households struggle to afford housing? Unaffordable housing costs can force families to spend less on other basic necessities like health care or food, to cut costs by seeking lower-quality child care, and to under-invest in important long-term assets like education or retirement savings.

In North Carolina, seniors are considered low income when they earn less than 80% of the area median income, which the U.S. Census reports as $60,516 for households and $34,209 for individuals as of 2021.

A widely used federal guideline defines low income as $14,580 annually for one person and $30,000 for a family of four.

The US hasn't built enough homes in recent decades. The shortage is among the reasons homes are unaffordable for many Americans. It could also be contributing to other problems — like inequality, low birth rates, and climate change.

How many people live in affordable housing in the US? ›

Over 10.9 million of the nation's 43.7 million renter households have extremely low incomes. Only 7.3 million rental homes are affordable to extremely low-income renters, assuming households should spend no more than 30% of their incomes on housing.

Causes. The imbalance between supply and demand; resulted from of strong economic growth creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs (which increases demand for housing) and the insufficient construction of new housing units to provide enough supply to meet the demand.

There are negative externalities to building houses. However, this market failure conflicts with the other type of market failure – a lack of new houses built leading to higher prices.

More than 1.8 billion people around the world do not have adequate housing, an estimated 15 million people are forcibly evicted every year, and 150 million more are living in homelessness.

From 1977 to 2020, in 2020 inflation-adjusted dollars, state and local government spending on housing and community development programs increased from $14 billion to $59 billion, an increase of 309 percent.

Housing is the key to reducing intergenerational poverty and increasing economic mobility. Research shows that increasing access to affordable housing is the most cost-effective strategy for reducing childhood poverty and increasing economic mobility in the United States.

Effect on economic growth

If house prices rise, then the wealth effect is likely to cause an increase in consumer spending. This will cause higher Aggregate Demand (AD), and it is likely to cause an increase in Real GDP and a higher rate of economic growth.

That's largely due to the shortage of housing supply, which has hit middle income buyers the hardest. Thanks to elevated mortgage rates, the housing market is missing around 320,000 homes priced at or below $256,000 – the maximum price a middle-income buyer earning up to $75,000 can afford.

Substandard housing such as water leaks, poor ventilation, dirty carpets and pest infestation can lead to an increase in mold, mites and other allergens associated with poor health.

What are some of the negative consequences of high housing costs? ›

Pew draws on the same formula used in the SmartAsset report, defining the middle class as those with incomes between two-thirds and twice the national median income. That works out to a national salary range of roughly $52,000 to $156,000 in 2020 dollars for a three-person household.

The 2022 poverty level numbers, published in January, 2022, and are used to determine subsidy eligibility for 2023 coverage. For a single person in the continental United States, the 2022 federal poverty level is $13,590. For each additional person in the household, the federal poverty level increased by $4,720.

A potential disadvantage of social housing is that projects can be mismanaged, leading to poor quality builds and/or maintenance. Additionally, only a finite amount of public money is invested in social housing. Sometimes projects can run out of funds, leading to cut corners or a lack of ongoing support for residents.

A house is private property with characteristics of a public good.

Many people are not comfortable with the issue of public housing because of the stigma of it and its residents. This stigma is the belief that society has against those living there based on stereotypes (Redd, 2010). Another term used in the built environment stigma is the NIMBY attitude.

Story at a glance

California currently has the largest deficit of homes at 980,000.

Is the US having a housing crisis? ›

There is a shortage of 7.3 million affordable and available rental homes for renters with extremely low incomes in the US, up 8 percent from 6.8 million in 2019. The lack of housing options for renters with extremely low incomes are driving the overall affordable housing shortage across the country.

Studies have shown that for the past 40 years, housing supply has not kept pace with demand, resulting in a housing shortage ranging between 2 million and 6 million homes. Yet across America, a combination of recalcitrant homeowners and outdated zoning laws routinely block attempts to build more housing.

California's chronic shortage of housing manifests itself in sky-high housing costs, the nation's worst poverty and its highest level of homelessness.

1. Detroit, Michigan. The Motor City tops the list of most affordable places to buy a home.

Nine months into 2022, only 18% of households could afford the state's median priced home, the California Association of Realtors reported. And the estimated minimum annual household income needed to buy a median priced home increased from $148,400 to $192,800 over that time period.

The Biggest Culprit: The Lenders

Most of the blame is on the mortgage originators or the lenders. That's because they were responsible for creating these problems. After all, the lenders were the ones who advanced loans to people with poor credit and a high risk of default.

Demand for homes remains high, and there are fewer home sellers than there were in 2022. And while the market is cooling, experts don't expect an actual housing crash or a housing bubble burst in 2023. Will there be a housing market crash in 2023? It's highly unlikely that the housing market will crash in 2023.

The simplest reason is the rapid rise in mortgage rates has slowed housing activity to a crawl.

As prices become unsustainable and interest rates rise, purchasers withdraw. Borrowers are discouraged from taking out loans when interest rates rise. On the other side, house construction will be affected as well; costs will rise, and the market supply of housing will shrink as a result.

Will a recession make housing more affordable? ›

Lower prices: With fewer buyers, home sellers will likely no longer see multiple offers or bidding wars for their properties. This can lead to lower home prices.

National Shortage of Affordable Rental Housing. The U.S. has a shortage of 7.3 million rental homes affordable and available to renters with extremely low incomes – that is, incomes at or below either the federal poverty guideline or 30% of their area median income, whichever is greater.

Tenant-based rental assistance programs. Federal tenant-based rental assistance is provided primarily through HUD's Housing Choice Voucher. It is the largest and most sought after housing program in America.

An act of Congress in 1934 created the Federal Housing Administration, which made home ownership affordable for a broader segment of the public with the establishment of mortgage insurance programs.

Land use and zoning policies that exclude affordable housing and create racial, economic, and housing segregation; High costs of living, inadequate wages, and wealth and income inequality; A safety net that does not provide sufficient housing or supportive services.

Strained affordability has seen many homebuilders turn to smaller units. The Pandemic Housing Boom, which pushed national home prices up over 40%, coupled with last year's mortgage rate shock, has resulted in a deterioration of housing affordability.

Subprime Mortgage Crisis

Sometimes referred to as the greatest trade in history, Paulson's firm made a fortune and he earned over $4 billion personally on this trade alone.

Michael Burry rose to fame after he predicted the 2008 U.S. housing crash and managed to net $100 million in personal profits, and another $700 million for his investors with a few lucrative, out-of-consensus bets.

Numerous health issues are linked to substandard home conditions. These include an increase in accidents as well as infectious diseases, respiratory problems, cardiovascular diseases, and many others. The housing crisis has a significant impact on people's mental health as well.

One of the biggest factors is supply and demand. In areas where there is high demand for housing but limited supply, prices are likely to be higher. This is particularly true in urban areas, where people are often willing to pay a premium to live close to their jobs and other amenities.

What is the future of housing in the US? ›

After falling in 2023 and 2024, home prices are predicted to plateau in 2025 before rising again at just above the rate of inflation. However, due to the spike in home values from 2020 through 2022 due to record-low mortgage rates, median sales prices will take at least until 2027 to regain the highs of mid-2022.

According to worldpopulationreview.com, Hawaii is the most expensive state to live in, with its housing costing three times the national average. New York and California rank as the second and third most expensive states in which to live, respectively.