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Housing

Home insurance premiums are surging. That's bad news for low-income housing — and its residents.

by Matt Levin
Jul 3, 2024
The more low-income housing nonprofits have to pay for insurance, the less they have leftover to build new units to ease the housing shortage.
Nearly a third of affordable housing providers saw premiums spike at least 25% from 2022 to 2023. Climate change has played a role in the rising cost.
Leila Macor/AFP via Getty Images
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Lumber is cheap, but building or renovating a home isn’t

by Mitchell Hartman
Jul 1, 2024
The price of lumber has plummeted since early in the pandemic, but other building materials are up 30% from 2019.
Lumber prices have fallen, but other home construction materials have not followed suit.
Tim Boyle/Getty Images
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Good riddance to the spring housing market

by Mitchell Hartman
Jun 28, 2024
Sales were cold and prices were hot.
Demonstrators at the Supreme Court, which upheld an Oregon law that punishes homeless people for sleeping and camping outdoors.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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Foreigners find Japan's empty homes not empty of value

by Shaimaa Khalil
Jun 26, 2024
There are millions of empty homes in Japan. A growing number of immigrants are buying and renovating them.
There are an estimated 9 million abandoned homes, known as akiyas, across Japan.
Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images
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Given the housing shortage, why is it so hard to build new apartments?

by Daniel Ackerman
Jun 20, 2024
Inflation, climate change and zoning laws have increased rents and building costs. Developers are focusing on high-priced luxury units.
Developers, who face stiff costs of their own, are focusing on high-profit luxury units, leaving low-income renters in a precarious position. 
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
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How does the cost of housing figure into the consumer price index? It's complicated.

by Caleigh Wells
Jun 14, 2024
Owners' equivalent rent measures the market cost of living in a home — which is a bit different from how much we actually spend on housing.
The cost of housing makes up more than a third of the CPI.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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For young voters, housing is a top issue in this election

by Amy Scott
Jun 14, 2024
High home prices and high mortgage rates can make homeownership feel impossible for Gen Zers. But what can the president do about it? 
Many Gen Zers worry about the challenges of becoming a homeowner, especially affordability. But state and local officials might have more sway over the housing market than the president.
Philip Pacheco/AFP via Getty Images
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"Mom, Dad, will you cosign my mortgage, please?"

by Kristin Schwab and Sofia Terenzio
Jun 10, 2024
Young adults increasingly need help from a parent, or other older adult, to buy their first home. The tough market is removing some of the stigma.
Many parents are helping their kids buy a home, which makes "it that much harder for other people to break into the housing market when they don't have that help," said Abha Bhattarai at The Washington Post.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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Some good housing news? Foreclosures are down 24% from the same time a year ago

by Nancy Marshall-Genzer
May 30, 2024
The wave that hit after the pandemic foreclosure moratorium first lifted has generally worked its way through the system.
The eviction moratorium in the CARES Act allowed homeowners "to maintain their mortgage in a healthy way," said Zillow's Nicole Bachaud.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
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Home prices have reached new records, yet consumer confidence rose. What gives?

by Caleigh Wells
May 28, 2024
Turns out what we're seeing may not be optimism as much as less pessimism.
Plans to buy a new home in the next six months were "at one of the lowest levels that it’s been, I think, in the history of the Consumer Confidence Index,” says Brian Connolly of the University of Michigan.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
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