High home prices and interest rates have pushed sales to their lowest level in 30 years, according to The State of the Nation’s Housing 2025, a new report released by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Insurance premiums and property taxes are on the rise; high rents have left record numbers with cost burdens and contributed to a sharp rise in homelessness; and wildfires have highlighted the growing dangers of climate disasters. Amid concerns about diminished federal supports, state and local governments are ramping up efforts to tackle the affordable housing crisis, but the increasing possibility of an economic downturn threatens to deepen these challenges.
Eight takeaways from the new report
- Renter cost burdens hit another record high
- Rising costs encumber homeowners, as insurance and property taxes continue to increase
- As home prices grow, sales drop to a 30-year low
- Builders respond with smaller homes and mortgage rate buydowns
- U.S. homeownership rate falls as first-time buyers priced out
- Rental demand remains strong but construction largely at high end of the market
- Reductions in federals supports put households at risk
- Tariffs, reduced immigration, and diminished federal support create an uncertain future