By Kevin Clang

March 14, 2013

Throughout the week, the BPC Housing Commission highlights news items that address critical developments in housing policy. Any views expressed in the content posted on this forum do not necessarily represent the views of the Commission, its co-chairs or the Bipartisan Policy Center.

What We're Reading posts include a compilation of useful links in the Housing Visualized section below. These resources offer the latest economic indicators, expert insight, and statistical trends related to the U.S. housing market.

Housing Visualized

2010 Census l Mapping the Census l Comparing Recessions and Recoveries
Infographic: Rental Housing Market Trends l Housing by the Numbers
Infographic: Household Formation Gap l Who Gains Most From Tax Breaks
Infographic: Housing's Economic Impact l Measuring Economic Mobility
Past Commissions and Reports l Trulia’s Housing Barometer
Credit Conditions l U.S. Housing Summary l Mortgage Data
Changes in Home Prices l Wells Fargo Monthly Economic Outlook
WF Real Estate & Housing Reports l Prices and Inventory by Metro Area

Mixed-Use Neighborhoods May Be Safer, Too
By Emily Badger
The Atlantic

"Neighborhoods with a mix of residences, offices and retail outlets are now conventionally thought to have a host of benefits, a departure in thinking from the years of urban planning when cities sought to segregate uses of land, with the houses in one corner of town and the shopping district in another. Mixed-use neighborhoods enable people to walk more, with downstream health benefits. They help cut down on traffic congestion, and therefore pollution. For many people, they create livelier communities and a higher quality of life." Read more here.

By Michael Stubel

July 20, 2012

Throughout the week, the BPC Housing Commission highlights news items that address critical developments in housing policy. Any views expressed in the content posted on this forum do not necessarily represent the views of the Commission, its co-chairs or the Bipartisan Policy Center.

What We're Reading posts now include a compilation of useful links in the Housing Visualized section below. These resources offer the latest economic indicators, expert insight, and statistical trends related to the U.S. housing market.

Housing Visualized

2010 Census l Mapping the Census l Housing Market Indicators
Infographic: Household Formation Gap l Who Gains Most From Tax Breaks
Infographic: Housing's Economic Impact l Measuring State-Level Economic Mobility Past Commissions and Reports l Trulia’s Housing Barometer
Credit Conditions l U.S. Housing Summary 2012 l Changes in Home Prices since 2003
Wells Fargo Monthly Economic Outlook l Wells Fargo Real Estate & Housing Reports

High rents, tight credit put many at the mercy of the market
By Michelle Conlin and Ilaina Jonas
Reuters

"Five years after the housing bubble burst, the United States is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis. Home prices have fallen a third from their peaks, but many Americans cannot benefit because they cannot get a mortgage. With credit tight, many consumers have no choice but to rent. Others who can afford to buy are also renting, because they view real estate as a lousy investment. With this increased demand, rents in some cities have jumped by double-digit percentage rates." Read more here.

By Michael Stubel

May 22, 2012

Throughout the week, the BPC Housing Commission highlights news items that address critical developments in housing policy. Any views expressed in the content posted on this forum do not necessarily represent the views of the Commission, its co-chairs or the Bipartisan Policy Center.

What if everything we’ve been told about the financial crisis is wrong?
By Paul Jackson
HousingWire

"Fed economists Christopher Foote, Kristopher Gerardi, and Paul Willen apparently decided the time has come to try to unplug at least some people from a financial markets version of The Matrix: that is, common knowledge about the financial crisis and associated housing collapse. And their paper makes for gripping reading to anyone who has spent the majority of their professional life in the financial markets. In various turns, the authors end up arguing that much of what we think we know about the financial crisis is, in fact, not actually rooted in fact at all." Read more here.

By Michael Stubel

April 23, 2012

Throughout the week, the BPC Housing Commission highlights news items that address critical developments in housing policy. Any views expressed in the content posted on this forum do not necessarily represent the views of the Commission, its co-chairs or the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The Biggest X-Factor in the Housing Market? Where Baby Boomers Will Choose to Retire
By Nate Berg
The Atlantic

"America's aging population is already placing different demands on the housing market and affecting what developers will likely be focused on providing, according to Terry Holzheimer, director of economic development in Arlington County, Virginia. He's expecting to see more infill housing, more housing in areas that are walkable, and more pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods with high levels of services and amenities." Read more here.