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 2, 2012

Housing Visualized

2010 Census l Mapping the Census l Housing Market Indicators
Infographic: Generation Gap in Household Formation
Infographic: Housing's Economic Impact l Measuring State-Level Economic Mobility Past Commissions and Reports l Trulia’s Housing Barometer
U.S. Credit Conditions l U.S. Housing Summary 2012
Wells Fargo Monthly Economic Outlook l Wells Fargo Real Estate & Housing Reports

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 at the top of the page. These resources offer the latest economic indicators, expert insight, and statistical trends related to the U.S. housing market.

Census Bureau: Millions more Americans shared households in face of recession
By Michael A. Fletcher
The Washington Post

"Millions of economically pressed Americans cushioned themselves against the recession by doubling up in houses and apartments, according to a Census Bureau report... The number of adults sharing households with family members or other individuals jumped 11.4 percent between 2007 and 2010, the report said. Overall, such living arrangements accounted for 22 million households in 2010 — or 18.7 percent of all U.S. households, compared with 17 percent in 2007." Read more here.

By Michael Stubel

March 14, 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.

Foreclosures Pick Up In Many States
The Associated Press

"Foreclosure activity surged last month across about half of the nation's states, as banks tackled a backlog of homes with mortgages that had gone unpaid yet remained in limbo due to delays stemming from foreclosure-abuse claims." Read more here.

By Michael Stubel

February 4, 2012

Throughout the week, the BPC Housing Commission will highlight 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.

Republicans Sharply Question Bernanke for Fed’s Focus on Job Market

By Binyamin Appelbaum
The New York Times

The Fed’s chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, was sharply questioned by members of a House committee about the Fed’s announcement last week that it planned to hold short-term interest rates near zero until late 2014, a measure that the Fed described as necessary to support a faster pace of economic recovery. 'I think this policy runs the great risk of fueling asset bubbles, destabilizing prices and eventually eroding the value of the dollar,' said Representative Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who is chairman of the House Budget Committee... Mr. Bernanke repeated the Fed’s assessment, released last week, that the pace of growth would increase modestly this year, but that the economy still faced significant challenges, including the depressed state of the housing market and the risk that problems in Europe would infect the rest of the world. Read more here.