By Michael Stubel

April 24, 2013

Today, former Senate Majority Leader and Housing Commission Co-Chair George Mitchell provided a keynote address during the luncheon of the Illinois Governor’s Conference on Affordable Housing.

By Henry Cisneros

April 17, 2013

As a former HUD Secretary, I thought I would share some quick reflections on the 2014 budget proposed by President Obama as it relates to housing.

First, some context: According to HUD’s most recent findings, nearly 8.5 million unassisted lower-income households have “worst case” housing needs, meaning these households pay more than half of their income on rent or live in severely inadequate housing, or both. “Worst case” needs have grown 19 percent since 2009 and a staggering 43 percent since 2007. For those at the bottom of the income ladder, a major factor contributing to high housing costs is the great shortage of available and affordable rental units.

By Michael Stubel

April 10, 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

Housing Market Shows Fastest Rate of Recovery Since Before the Crash
By Hari Sreenivasan
PBS Newshour

"New reports show a spike in U.S. home prices, rising at the fastest pace since 2006. To learn what's driving this recovery, Hari Sreenivasan talks with Nicholas Retsinas of the Harvard Business School." Read more here.

By Joe Belden

April 8, 2013

Which of the recommendations in the BPC Housing Commission’s report should receive highest priority?

View the full forum here.

The BPC’s Housing Commission issued an excellent report on February 25. All parts of the report are important, balanced and well-researched, and all should receive the highest priority. But for rural housing practitioners such as the Housing Assistance Council, Chapter 5 of the report, “The Importance of Rural Housing,” includes very significant information and recommendations.

We congratulate the Commission and especially commend Senator Bond for his support for rural housing and his very strong presentation at the release event.