Policy & Industry

Time to Tweak Regulations in Dodd-Frank, but Keep Homeowners Safe

My colleagues at Zillow and I created the Zestimate in 2006 just as the housing market was inflating into a bubble. Millions of estimated home values became a lens through which to watch the crash and subsequent recovery. Using that data, Zillow first reported from the rubble of the housing market bust that U.S. homeowners were underwater by more than a trillion dollars, and almost a third of homeowners with a mortgage owed more on their loans than their homes were worth.

angelag • Mar 23 2017

Dismal Growth in Coal Country Home Values

Coal mining jobs stood at 57,919 in the middle of 2016, down a devastating 61.4 percent from 1990. And home values in coal-mining counties have been stagnant in recent years.

Sarah Mikhitarian • Mar 23 2017

Age and Affordability: Why an Affordable Rental Home Is More Often an Older Home, and Why That Matters

Subdued new home construction activity in recent years is pushing up the price and age of those homes that do sell, and contributing to slower depreciation in value among aging homes that otherwise would become more affordable. As a result, those homes that are affordable for lower-income, renter households are increasingly older and potentially a lot more hazardous.

Alexander Casey • Mar 16 2017

A Picture’s Worth: Driverless Cars

Switching to a driverless system could eliminate roughly two-thirds of the current cost of a typical Uber ride

Elizabeth Kimn • Mar 14 2017

How Driverless Cars Could Help Solve our Affordable Housing Woes

When it comes to housing our workforce, there are substantial economic gains to be had by enabling more workers to move to growing cities for high-paying jobs, or at least by creating an efficient way to commute between areas with affordable housing and areas with good jobs. Driverless cars promise to help us with both.

angelag • Mar 13 2017

Tax Relief: The (Non)Impact of Vancouver’s Real Estate Tax on the Seattle Market

In August 2016, the government of British Columbia, Canada, enacted a 15 percent tax on foreigners buying homes in the rapidly growing city of Vancouver. Most now agree that the Vancouver housing market has slowed substantially since last summer, but the data remain inconclusive as to any specific effects on international buyers of Vancouver homes. And there is less agreement on whether the tax has pushed would-be buyers of Canadian homes to instead consider U.S. homes south of the 49th parallel, especially in nearby Seattle.

Aaron Terrazas • Mar 08 2017

Savings on Auto-Pilot: How Much Less Could Driverless Car Commuting Cost?

Thanks to ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, the cost of getting a door-to-door ride of a few miles today is less expensive than ever. And looking ahead, switching to a driverless system could eliminate roughly two-thirds of the current cost of a typical Uber ride (even using very conservative assumptions) – helping pave the way for a dramatic re-imagining of public transit planning and affordable community development.

Alexander Casey • Mar 08 2017

A Picture’s Worth: Mayoral Housing Plans & Population Growth

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.

Elizabeth Kimn • Mar 07 2017

Destination-Based Cash Flow Taxation: What is it and Why Does it Matter?

A so-called “destination-based cash flow” taxation system is currently the hot topic of discussion around tax reform in this country. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is pushing the idea hard, but just about every other day it seems the prevailing wisdom says the idea is dead, and then alive again. But just what is it, and how does it work?

Alexander Casey • Mar 03 2017

Homes in Black Neighborhoods Twice as Likely to be Underwater as Homes in White Neighborhoods

Nationwide and in a number of large metro markets, the negative equity rate in largely black communities is double or more the rate in majority white communities. The disparities reflect the wide gulf that exists between white America and communities of color and their very different experiences throughout the housing boom, bust and recovery.

Svenja Gudell • Jan 11 2017