Highlights From Research on Rents and Homelessness
We used statistical modeling to improve homeless population estimates, then created a framework for investigating how changes in rent would affect the size of the homeless population. Given that logistics and expenses prevent metros from conducting more counts of homeless populations each year, this research also offers a statistical way to generate hypothetical additional counts every year.
April 2017 Market Report: A Decade Later, Home Values Return to Bubble-Era Peak
Some people will ask whether passing the 2007 peak means the housing market is in another bubble. It's not. In most markets during "normal times," home values typically rise over time to some degree, and absent any large shocks, each month will represent a new peak. The fact that it took the Zillow Home Value Index a decade to return to this point, let alone exceed it, is a testament to how far the market fell when it crashed. It's also a reflection of how outlandishly high it had climbed.
January 2017 Market Report: The Rest Overtake the West
In January, U.S. median home value growth continued to accelerate year-over-year, the 22 month out of the past 23 in which annual growth was similar to or faster than the prior month. But while the national trend has remained roughly the same for two years, a slowdown in growth in a handful of pricey West Coast markets, particularly in California, has opened the door for more affordable markets in the South to top the list of the nation’s fastest-growing metros.
December 2016 Market Report: What Could Flattening Rents Mean for 2017?
A months-long streak of accelerating home value growth was met with an equally long stretch of flattening rents to end 2016, a trend with interesting implications for the housing market as a whole as attention turns to the busy 2017 home shopping season to come.
November 2016 Market Report: Home Values Growing at Fastest Pace Since 2006
As 2016 comes to a close, annual growth in rents has stabilized, the number of homes listed for sale is at its lowest point on record and annual home value growth is accelerating. Looking ahead into 2017 and beyond, all three of these trends are likely to continue influencing each other and the market as a whole.
Will More Oil Prove a Boon or Burden to West Texas?
Last month, geologists announced the discovery of an oil field in West Texas that is likely the largest ever found in the United States – typically the kind of announcement that could be expected to reap big economic dividends for local communities, including a big boost to home values. But in today’s economic and geopolitical climate, the presence of the oil itself will likely matter less to the local economy than global markets’ reaction to it.
Is Your City Building Enough Housing? Weighing Today’s Housing Promises Versus Past Housing Delivery
A lack of new housing supply has been blamed for a raft of housing issues plaguing many large U.S. housing markets, including rapid appreciation, deteriorating affordability (especially at the lower end of the market and for renters) and very limited inventory. In response, mayors’ offices nationwide have formulated plans focused on building new housing and rehabilitating and preserving what housing already exists. But are these plans enough, and are they feasible?
