State of the Nation’s Housing: 2011

Posted by Matthew Brian Hersh on June 6, 2011

New data from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies show that the Great Recession that has plagued all sectors of the housing market continues to place considerable strain on renters, as rents continue to rise and low-cost units disappear from the market.

More, the data, published Monday in the Center’s annual report, The State of the Nation’s Housing: 2001, indicate “an unusually large number of households leaving homeownership and an unusually small number of renter households buying homes” with the national homeownership rate falling below 67 percent in 2010, down from 69 percent in 2004. That rate, the report shows, continues to fall.

Of course, weak job growth, high unemployment, depressed home prices, and low consumer confidence have prevented a normal recovery trajectory. There’s also uncertainty:

“A number of major policy debates are under way that
could add even more uncertainty to the housing outlook.
Implementation of the Financial Reform Act and decisions
about what form government mortgage guarantees are to
take will have a profound impact on the future cost and availability of mortgage credit”