Housing

Reuters - The "State of the Nation’s Housing," [is] a report produced every year by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. The 2026 edition, out June 17, is sobering.

“Persistent affordability challenges and rising economic uncertainty are hurting housing markets," the report says bluntly. "Weakening labor markets and plummeting immigration have dampened household growth and mobility. Sales of existing homes sit at three-decade lows and inventories are rising in the face of high homebuying costs.”

Only 1.1 million new households were formed in 2025 – a number roughly in line with the depths of the Great Recession over a decade ago – as student debt, a weaker job market, and anemic consumer sentiment made Americans wary of striking out on their own.

Similarly, only 11.2% of Americans relocated in 2024, an all-time low.

• As of 2024, 20.7 million homeowner households (24% of the total) spent more than 30% of their income on housing expenses; 9.6 million spent more than half their income.  Renters may have it worse: roughly half of all households that rent, or 22.7 million, were cost burdened as of 2024, including 12.1 million that were severely burdened.