Economic activity expands, but consumers feel the squeeze
Construction and real estate activity increased slightly overall, with several districts highlighting growth in data center building.
Affordability
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Duplexes and townhomes do not always make housing cheaper
Not every housing policy labeled “affordable” is actually designed to make housing more affordable. That is the central problem with today’s “missing middle” debate. Across the country, duplexes, triplexes, courtyard apartments, townhomes and small multifamily buildings are being promoted as the solution to America’s housing affordability crisis. The argument sounds clean and appealing: allow more […]
NYC office conversions face scrutiny after Pfizer HQ incident
Buckling columns at the former Pfizer headquarters this week forced evacuations across seven Midtown East blocks. The incident raises new questions about office-to-residential conversion, one of several tools the city has used to add housing. It is also a tool Mayor Zohran Mamdani leaned into because it fit his affordability narrative. Mamdani has framed housing […]
San Diego to get more transit housing density as SB 79 row settles
San Diego has spent recent years earning a reputation as one of California’s most aggressive housing builders, streamlining permits citywide. But city leaders hesitated when state law required them to draw boundaries for new housing near neighborhood bus stops. San Diego officials proposed a far tighter map than regional and state regulators wanted. They limited […]
California November ballot: a billionaire tax and new local tax limits
California has long been synonymous with high taxes, but new fights over who will pay them are exposing a sharper fault line. The state increasingly reaches for “tax the rich” tools to fund housing and social programs, while anti-tax forces try to constrain those same tools. California’s tax fight is unfolding under a national spotlight. […]
Newsom signs balanced budget with $1.7B locked-in for housing
This time last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a state budget that included sweeping housing reforms that allowed urban residential developers to avoid rigorous environmental reviews. This year’s budget, which Newsom signed on Monday, does not carry the same historic housing reforms as last year. Instead, it is historic for balancing the budget. “For […]
Young buyers are priced out in most U.S. metros, Pew data shows
Buying a first home has gotten materially harder for young adults in most major U.S. metros since 2019, as home values have far outpaced income gains and higher mortgage rates push monthly payments out of reach, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of American Community Survey data. The study focuses on households headed […]
ROAD work ahead
A fiendishly brilliant advertising copywriter working for Benetton during the “hanging chads” Presidential election controversy in 1992 took a circa-1973 Yogi Berraism and transformed it for a New York City billboard on the heavily trafficked northbound West Side Highway. “It ain’t Oval ‘til it’s Oval!” the message read, as the matter made its way up […]
Aging in place is reshaping housing demand — and most homes aren’t ready
An expert expains why aging in place is shifting from preference to financial necessity — and what housing professionals need to know.
Colorado’s Drive It Home financing kicks off with affordable condos
A small condominium project in Denver’s West Colfax neighborhood may be the best evidence yet that Colorado’s housing reforms are producing real results. The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority this month closed a $5.7 million low-interest construction loan for Wolff Street Flats, a 23-unit affordable for-sale development by Osina Development and Modus Real Estate. It […]