Habitat for Humanity has been a tireless advocate for the homeless and a recent blog post by Robert Hickey, Habitat for Humanity International director of housing policy development and analysis, sheds light on new trends in homelessness. The data was derived from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies released the 2019 State of the Nation’s Housing report. Blog: Habitat for Humanity
Highlights of the report:
- No one should pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing. When you spend more than that, you are considered “cost-burdened” by housing.
- 38 million households nationwide — 31.5% of all households — are paying more than 30% of their incomes on housing. That’s 20.5 million renters and 17.3 million homeowners.
- A near-record share of renters — 47.4% — still face unaffordable rents.
- More than 18 million households — 1 in 6 — are paying more than half of their income on housing and are considered severely cost-burdened.
- Rising rents and persistently high home prices are undercutting slow gains in income. Overall, rents were up another 3.6% in 2018, and home prices were near their highest levels since 1980, adjusting for inflation.
- Cutting back on health care spending by nearly 70%.
- New housing supply lagged overall need by 260,000 homes in 2018, continuing an eight-year trend.
- The overall U.S. home ownership rate rose slightly in 2018 to 64.4%. Between 2016 and 2018, the rate increased 2.6% for Asian/other households, while both white and Hispanic households were up 1.1%. The black home ownership rate rose just seven-tenths of a percentage point.
