New report highlights unease in the housing market amid a worsening affordability crisis

This year, the US housing market is shrouded in uncertainty, with little indication that record-high levels of unaffordability will ease anytime soon. 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 out today from 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 devastating 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.