Housing is basic. We all need a roof over our heads. We all need a place to raise our families, cook our meals, and escape from the world.
So it’s a cruel situation that we seem to misunderstand so much.
This is the idea at the heart of “The State of the Nation’s Housing,” a report produced annually by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Research. The 2026 edition, which will be released on June 17th, has solemn content.
“Sustained affordability challenges and heightened economic uncertainty are negatively impacting the housing market,” the report states bluntly. “A weak labor market and a sharp decline in immigration are slowing household growth and mobility. Existing home sales are at a 30-year low, and inventory is rising due to high home buying costs.”
What does that actually mean?
- Only 1.1 million new households were formed in 2025, as student debt, a weak job market and weak consumer sentiment made Americans wary of striking out on their own. This number roughly matches the depth of the Great Recession more than a decade ago.
- Similarly, only 11.2% of Americans immigrated in 2024, an all-time low.
- In 2024, 20.7 million homeowner households (24% of the total) will spend more than 30% of their income on housing. 9.6 million people spent more than half of their income.
- It could be even worse for renters. By 2024, 22.7 million households, or roughly half of all renting households, will be cost-burdened, with 12.1 million of them severely burdened.
What is the housing market like?
Beneath the bullet points, the story of a severely undersupplied and overcrowded housing market resonates. The diagram below shows those points.
In 2024, 11 million American households were “extremely low income.” This means their incomes were up to 30% of the area median. However, only 3.8 million affordable rental housing units were available, meeting the needs of only 35% of these households.
Among American renters of all income levels, 49% have moderate cost burden. That means they spend more than 30% of their income on housing, and a whopping 26% spend at least half of their income on housing costs. Both indicators have increased significantly since 2019.
Homeownership is becoming more expensive
Even though more is needed to afford housing, Americans often end up with less. As the report explains, the median age of owner-occupied homes is 42 years, while renter-occupied homes are 43 years old. This is important because the older the house, the more expensive it is to maintain and improve.
According to the report, as of 2023, “owners living in homes built before 1940 will spend an average of $6,700 annually on improvements and repairs, about 50% more than owners living in homes built after 2010.”
The housing crisis is not discrimination
It has become clear that housing is out of reach for people across America: young and old, from coast to coast and everywhere in between. The toughest states for renters are Florida and Nevada, while California and Hawaii are among the most expensive places to own.
Still, this crisis is hardest on America’s most vulnerable people. “The most severe and most difficult housing shortages involve housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income households,” the report said. In 2024, 11 million extremely low-income households will compete for just 3.8 million affordable rental units.
People of color are also disproportionately affected. Among Black-headed homeowner households, 32% are cost-burdened, and among Hispanic-headed households, 29% are cost-burdened. In contrast, 22% of households are headed by a white owner.
