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Discussion Paper
Urban Marylanders Are Migrating to More Affordable and Smaller Metro Areas
With its unemployment rate reaching 1.9 percent in December 2023, Maryland has the tightest labor market in the country, which poses an ongoing hiring challenge for the state's employers. A key contributor to the tightness is the state's slow post-pandemic labor force recovery, especially in the state's inner-ring suburbs of the District of Columbia. While some of the state's former workers and job seekers have dropped out of the labor force but have remained residents, others have left the state altogether, according to recent statistics that placed Maryland in the top 5 states by net ...
Journal Article
At the Richmond Fed: Taking a Closer Look at Housing
Housing is an important consideration as the Federal Reserve promotes price stability and maximum sustainable employment. The Richmond Fed has spent the last year and a half closely studying this sector of the economy for that very reason, with a particular focus on the small towns and rural communities of its region.
U.S. housing: Unaffordable to buy, but wealth-building to own
A home is not only a place to live. It is a long-lived asset whose value reflects the housing service it provides over time and the return buyers require, given interest rates and risk. The ongoing combination of high house price-to-rent ratios and strained affordability suggests housing remains a macroeconomic vulnerability, though financial conditions appear more resilient than before the housing bust and subsequent Global Financial Crisis of 2008.
Discussion Paper
Housing Affordability Challenges for Renters and Homeowners in the Rural Fifth District
As previously discussed in this blog, homeownership affordability has been on the decline in rural communities throughout the Fifth District. The combination of elevated home prices and rising mortgage rates have made homeownership harder to achieve. But affordability challenges aren't limited to prospective homebuyers. Many existing rural homeowners and renters — especially low-to-moderate income (LMI) households — are burdened by their housing costs.
America Underbuilt Inc.: The Supply Side of the U.S. Housing Challenge
This analysis finds that the U.S. has underbuilt housing for decades. The persistent supply shortfall amid growing demand drives today’s affordability crisis.
Addressing the Housing Affordability Crisis as COVID-19’s Impact Continues
Finding an affordable apartment or rental house already was a struggle for many families before the pandemic.
What Are the Long-run Trade-offs of Rent-Control Policies?
While rent-control policies can mean more affordable housing for some, research shows they can also lead to a decline in the supply and quality of rental housing.
Working Paper
Can More Housing Supply Solve the Affordability Crisis? Evidence from a Neighborhood Choice Model
We estimate a neighborhood choice model using 2014 American Community Survey data to investigate the degree to which new housing supply can improve housing affordability. In the model, equilibrium rental rates are determined so that the number of households choosing each neighborhood is equal to the number of housing units in each neighborhood. We use the estimated model to simulate how rental rates would respond to an exogenous increase in the number of housing units in a neighborhood. We find that the rent elasticity is low, and thus marginal reductions in supply constraints alone are ...
Speech
An Economy That Works for All: Housing Affordability
Remarks at An Economy That Works for All: Housing Affordability, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York City.
Speech
Observations on Housing and the Economy: Remarks at “The State of the Nation’s Housing 2025”
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President and CEO Susan M. Collins shared remarks at The State of the Nation’s Housing 2025 event hosted by the Harvard Joint Center on Housing Studies and the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. President Collins' remarks focus on issues related to housing data, housing affordability, the importance of housing in the economy, and the Federal Reserve’s engagement in housing issues – especially with the regional-economy perspective.