American households are spending more of their income on housing than at any other point in recorded history.
According to an article in The Real Deal, housing in the United States is less affordable than ever. “In September 2022, a median-income household would have had to spend a little over 46 percent of its income to afford a median-priced home. That’s a 14-point spike from September 2021, when a household had to spend about a third of its income to afford a home in its community.” This remains the case in all but one U.S. metro areas with a population of more than 500,000.
California takes the top five spots on the list of most unaffordable metro areas, with the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area, where it would cost a median-income household 66 percent of their income to buy a home, coming in sixth.
The cities with the steepest declines in affordability, the article notes, are in the Southeast, where housing prices were historically low.
FULL STORY: Housing affordability is worst on record, data shows
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
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