The State of the Nation's Housing 2017

Title The State of the Nation's Housing 2017
Author Name Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
Link http://hofinet.org/documents/doc.aspx?id=2850

A decade after the onset of the Great Recession, the national housing market is finally returning to normal. With incomes rising and household growth strengthening, the housing sector is poised to become an important engine of economic growth. But not all households and not all markets are thriving, and affordability pressures remain near record levels. Addressing the scale and complexity of need requires a renewed national commitment to expand the range of housing options available for an increasingly diverse society. 


Housing markets continued to strengthen in 2016, with new and existing home sales, prices, and construction levels all on the rise. Still, single-family construction, traditionally the largest source of residential investment, remains well below historical levels. As a result, low inventories of homes for sale are driving nominal prices above pre-recession peaks in many metros. In rental markets, low vacancy rates are pushing up rents and keeping multifamily construction relatively strong. Easing these tight conditions is especially difficult where labor shortages and limited land availability constrain new housing supply. 


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