This month, NHC’s research affiliate, the Center for Housing Policy, released a new report entitled Housing Affordability Trends for Working Households, which found that the share of working owners with a severe housing cost burden – that is, the share of households spending more than half their income on housing – rose from 18 to 20 percent during the three-year period studied. The report’s analysis finds that the share of working owners with a severe housing cost burden – that is, the share of households spending more than half their income on housing – rose from 18 to 20 percent during the three-year period studied. In-depth media coverage of the report includes articles in The Washington Post, The Tampa Tribune and an interview with the Center’s Senior Research Associate Keith Wardrip on WJBC Radio News (IL).
One of the main reasons why home price declines have not improved housing affordability is that most homeowners have not moved since the foreclosure crisis started and, as a result, have not benefited from the lower prices. Other reasons why housing affordability has worsened include: utility costs that have grown at more than double the rate of inflation, increasing housing payments due to adjustable-rate mortgages resetting, and an unemployment rate that began trending up in the last year of the time period studied.