N.B.: Endnotes in this article are not hyperlinks. Please see end of article for sources. 

Homelessness and poverty 

Lack of affordable housing is a leading cause of homelessness in America. The U. S. Conference of Mayors identified it as by far the most common cause of family homelessness nationwide for 2008.[1] Family homelessness has increased dramatically since the recent recession began – including a 9 percent jump (from about 473,000 to 517,000 homeless persons living in families) during fiscal 2008, according to federal statistics.[2] The number of people in suburban and rural shelters rose almost 40 percent during that period.[3] 

Lack of affordable housing also is a leading cause of homelessness among other people.[4] Estimates of overall homelessness vary. The U.S. Dep’t of Housing and Urban Development reports that about 1.6 million different Americans were homeless at some time during fiscal 2008. Other recent estimates have ranged from 2 million to 3.5 million people (about 40 percent of them estimated to be children).[5]  

 Lack of affordable housing also contributes to the poverty of many millions of other Americans. An increasing portion of the population lives in poverty. The national poverty rate for 2008 jumped from 12.5 percent to 13.2 percent of the population.[6] “The rise in the poverty rate, to the highest level since 1997, portends even larger increases [in 2009, economists said, as 2009] has registered far higher unemployment than in 2008.”[7]  

Most low-income families are renters, not homeowners.[8] To illustrate the effects of the recent boom and bust in the housing market on those families -- in 2006, more than 9 million renter households nationwide paid more than half of their income for housing, and 98 percent of them were considered low income.[9] The federal standard of affordable housing is housing costing 30 percent or less of annual income.[10]  

Then, between the fourth quarter of 2006 and the same quarter in 2008, the number of renter households grew by 2.2 million, as the number of owner-occupied households dipped.[11] In 2008, amid the recession, the rent of a primary residence actually rose in 13 of the 14 metropolitan areas covered by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).[12] Low-income Americans have suffered from both housing boom and bust.  

The overall unemployment rate reached 10.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in October 2009. [13] That figure was less than the post-World War II peak of 10.8 percent, reached in late 1982, but over the three years ending in October 2009, the overall unemployment rate rose by 5.8 percentage points -- the largest such increase since the Great Depression.  

The proportion of workers who have been out of work for more than 27 weeks also was higher than ever since the Great Depression.[14] The broadest measure of unemployment and underemployment tracked by the Labor Department has reached its highest level in decades. In all, more than one out of every six workers — 17.5 percent — were unemployed or underemployed in October 2009.[15]  

Clearly, many low- and moderate-income Americans are facing severe challenges finding and keeping affordable housing.  

Effects of subprime lending crisis 

The subprime lending crisis has shaken the nation’s economy severely since 2007. The  crisis is closely related to shortages of affordable housing.  

Subprime mortgages are held by real estate purchasers who lack sufficient credit to qualify for less costly and/or onerous mortgages to finance their purchases. More and more Americans resorted to subprime mortgages during the early years of this century, in order to buy into the market as prices escalated. For example, between 2004 and 2007, more than half of the new mortgages in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area were subprime adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs).[16] 

Massive defaults on subprime and other mortgages precipitated the foreclosure crisis, which contributed to the recent recession and national financial crisis. During the third quarter of 2009, more than 14 percent of borrowers (7.4 million American households) were in trouble on their mortgage – a new record – according to a Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) survey.[17]  

The problem mortgage rate was up from about 10 percent of borrowers who were in trouble during the same period in 2008. About 9.6 percent of borrowers were delinquent on their mortgage during the third quarter of 2009, according to the survey, and another 4.5 percent more (involving an estimated 2.38 million properties) were somewhere in the foreclosure process.[18]  

Foreclosure on a rental property typically leads to the eviction of tenants. It has been estimated that 40 percent of the households displaced by foreclosure are renters.[19] By 2009, about 7 million rental households living on very low incomes (31-50 percent of area median income) in small rental properties were at risk of foreclosure, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.[20] 

Further, at least 10 percent of Americans who lost their housing units due to foreclosure in 2008 became homeless as a result, according to survey responses from 159 organizations nationwide that deal with homelessness issues.[21] That figure was the median percentage given in the responses. The average percentage was 19 percent.[22]   

Foreclosures might not reach their highest levels until late 2010, according to the MBA’s chief economist, based on unemployment rates, which may not peak until at least mid-2010. Even after foreclosure rates peak, he noted, they are likely to remain elevated as borrowers in regions that have had steep price declines and now owe more than their home is worth continue to struggle.[23]  

The problems continue to be particularly acute in the Sun Belt states, such as California and Florida, which accounted for about 43.4 percent of the foreclosures started during the third quarter.[24] But the foreclosure problem is nationwide and is building despite a massive government program that pays lenders to lower borrowers’ payments. 

Effects of possible economic recovery 

On a brighter note, the nation’s gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the quarter that ended in September 2009, according to the Commerce Department.[25] American stock markets rallied beginning in March 2009. But government programs to encourage consumer spending on things like cars and houses were expiring by September 2009, and employers remained reluctant to hire more workers, suggesting the economy may face further setbacks in the coming year.[26]

When the economy finally recovers, the stage will be set for yet another round of rising housing demand and resulting hyper-inflation in housing prices in many metropolitan areas of the United States That historic pattern has been due largely to exclusionary housing policies (also called regulatory barriers to affordable housing (RBAHs)).  

It is crucial to eliminate those policies in order to avoid another vicious cycle of boom and bust in the housing sector. The Center (EHI) focuses on eliminating those policies.  

Effects of exclusionary housing policies 

Exclusionary housing policies are “among the principal culprits behind the nation’s persistent [housing] affordability problems” (in the words of the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies).[27] Those policies consist of unnecessary zoning and other housing-related government restrictions and burdens that interfere with efforts to build or preserve needed low- and moderate-income housing.  

Exclusionary housing policies sometimes defeat those efforts, and important recent research indicates that they increase the costs of what is produced by more than 50 percent in many American metropolitan areas – seriously limiting the amount that can be provided.[28]   

Exclusionary housing policies play havoc with the housing market. By driving up housing costs and aggravating housing shortages, those policies contribute to hyper-inflation in housing prices in many areas during normal times. High and rising prices cause many renters and homeowners to pay excessive housing costs, and they lead many would-be purchasers of low- and moderate-income residential properties to enter into high-risk financing, such as subprime mortgages. As mentioned, the inability of many purchasers to keep up with the high costs of those mortgages contributed to the recent mortgage meltdown, which in turn contributed to the recession and national financial crisis. 

The highest courts of a number of states have held that exclusionary zoning and, by implication, other RBAHs are unconstitutional. However, until now there has been no organization dedicated to eliminating RBAHs nationwide. The Center (EHI) has taken on that role. For further information, please see the Exclusionary Housing Policies article on this website.  

Environmental and energy conservation concerns

Energy and environmental factors demonstrate the need for sufficient affordable housing reasonably close to where people work and obtain services. For example, the world’s petroleum reserves may be effectively exhausted before the end of this century.[29] America’s sprawling residential neighborhoods intensify its reliance on commuting by automobile and on petroleum use. The recent spikes in gasoline prices are just one symptom of our undue reliance on petroleum.

 Also, there is “mounting scientific evidence that the release of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases from smokestacks, tailpipes and burning forests has played a central role in raising the average surface temperature of the earth by more than 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1900.”[30] Recently, “business groups have banded together to make unprecedented calls for federal regulation of greenhouse gases,” including those emitted by motor vehicles.[31]  

It is crucial from an energy and environmental standpoint, as well as an economic standpoint, to provide sufficient opportunities for Americans generally to access affordable housing within a short commuting distance from their jobs and basic services.     

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