May rent trends run sideways as multifamily supply stays strong

Policymakers have been making the case that more supply is a better check on housing costs than rent stabilization. May apartment rental data backs up that narrative. Rents ticked up modestly last month, the fifth consecutive month of sequential growth. But May’s reading was the lowest for that month since 2010, according to apartment data […]

Akron looks to deflate minimum lot size rules to spur infill

Leaders in Akron, a heartland city nearly 40 miles south of Cleveland, hope to shed the city’s “Rust Belt” label and drive its emerging revival by making it easier to build new homes. To achieve the objective, planners believe they’re on the verge of eliminating minimum lot sizes to counteract a shrinking-city paradox. Population loss […]

What if the housing shortage era is ending for some metros?

The Changing Landscape “This is not a forecast. A forecast is a prediction, the validity of which my ego and I are professionally responsible for. What I offer here is speculation – something that is likely enough to write about but not so likely that my ego hangs in the balance.” – George Friedman “When […]

Housing supply summit highlights the cost of complexity

I love Jerusalem Demsas’ “Housing Breaks People’s Brains” article in The Atlantic from November 2022. For me, it’s a trailhead for understanding why efforts and solutions aimed at the housing access and attainability crisis for so many Americans often short-circuit and fizzle before they can fix anything. Demsas’ unflinching reporting on “localism and shortage denialism” […]

Why it’s too easy to say ‘no’ to new-home development in America

It’s homebuilders’ last push, and their business and channel partners operate through friction on every front. It’s not a normal market. It’s come to this: Owning a home – especially a newly built one – in too many markets, for too many of America’s working households, means owning a luxury good, not for people with […]