Resources
H.R. 3700 Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016
Streamlines and reforms several federal housing assistance programs.
Mortgage Bankers Association | The Affordability of Owner-Occupied Housing in the United States: Economic Perspectives
There are many conceptualizations of how to measure housing affordability and there are many affordability indexes. All measures are based on judgments of which components of housing costs should be included and judgments about when these costs should be considered excessive. This study reviews existing theory and empirical work about the affordability of owner-occupied housing.
USDA Rural Development Unnumbered Letter on Management of Unused Rental Assistance
An “Unnumbered Letter” allowing state RD offices to reallocate unused rental assistance (RA) within their states without approval from the national office, reversing a policy in place since 2013 requiring state offices to return unused RA to the national office to be recaptured.
S.Amdt. 3922 to FY 2017 Omnibus
Eliminates the requirement that HOME Participating Jurisdictions commit HOME funds within 24 months or face recapture, for FY 2016 through FY 2019.
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University | The State of the Nation’s Housing 2015
One telling indicator of the state of the nation’s housing is the drop in the homeownership rate to just 64.5 percent last year, erasing nearly all of the increase in the previous two decades. The number of homeowners fell for the eighth straight year, signaling persistently weak demand in this key market segment. And the trend does not appear to be abating, with the national homeownership rate down to 63.7 percent in the first quarter of 2015.
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University | America’s Rental Housing: Expanding Options for Diverse and Growing Demand
The decade-long surge in rental demand is unprecedented. In mid-2015, 43 million families and individuals lived in rental housing, up nearly 9 million from 2005—the largest gain in any 10-year period on record. In addition, the share of all US households that rent rose from 31 percent to 37 percent, its highest level since the mid-1960s.
