Opportunity Zones: A path forward
Opportunity Zones (OZs) have emerged as a significant tool in driving investment into underdeveloped areas, offering a compelling case for their continuation and expansion. Since their inception in 2017, OZs have attracted nearly $100...
The state of affordable housing
Housing affordability has emerged as a key issue in this year’s U.S. presidential election. Both Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump have talked about what they would do to increase the supply of...
Aging boomers rekindle senior housing market
Senior housing has been one of the biggest disappointments for commercial real estate investors. Now thanks to millions of aging baby boomers, that may be about to change.
The oldest boomers turn 80 in less...
Is illegal immigration a driving force in apartment fundamentals?
Are illegal immigration and deportations truly driving forces behind housing supply, demand, and affordability issues, or are they being overstated by the media and both sides of the political divide? Or put...
HUD terminates Obama’s AFFH, again
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has, for a second time, cancelled the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, originally launched by the Obama administration and revived under Biden.
Shuttering AFFH returns...
Empty apartments finally start to fill
The biggest apartment construction boom in four decades flooded the market with new supply over the past two years. Apartment owners had to contend with a surge in empty units.
That is starting to change.
The...
Easing regulatory burden in housing market a top priority for HUD, Turner says
Former NFL player Scott Turner described easing housing development “regulatory burdens” as his top priority if he were to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), during testimony before the Senate...
The average age of U.S. homebuyers jumps to 56
The average age of homebuyers in the U.S. has risen by six years since July 2023—another sign that younger Americans are being priced out of the market due to escalating ownership costs.
The average age...
Results matter
Snapshots and soundbites are used to describe politics. Makes sense. The subconscious mind constantly scans the landscape for the most important thing: The path to prosperity, stability and opportunity. And of course, a single...
Our cities are zoned out
Urban zoning is an issue on which the left and the right often find common ground: they don’t like it. The left often because they want the freedom to build multifamily and affordable housing...
Inflation is the most destructive disease known to modern societies —Milton Friedman
Here’s how.
1 Shoe leather
The resources and energy people use to convert deteriorating currency into stable assets are costly. Economists call this shoe leather costs, alluding to how people destroy their shoes in the metaphorical...
Paying the fox to watch the chickens: The war on private housing
Despite the rise in homelessness, the federal government continues to raise the barrier to creating shelter for those without permanent housing. Infusing bad actors with HUD money is another layer.
In September the Biden admin....
The U.S. does not have a housing shortage
The word “shortage” has a very specific meaning. It refers to the inability to purchase a good at the current market price (or at any price). Rent control, which restricts the legal price of...
Affordable housing in the U.S.
Housing affordability has emerged as a key issue in this year’s U.S. presidential election. Both Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump have talked about what they would do to increase the supply of...
