Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies Releases 2025 Housing Affordability Report

The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies released its State of the Nation’s Housing 2025 report, revealing high home prices and interest rates have pushed home sales to their lowest level in 30 years with the uncertainty and unaffordability of the current U.S. housing market.

Here are top highlights from the report:

• In 2023, the number of cost-burdened renters, or those spending over 30% of their income on housing and utilities, reached a record high at 22.6 million renters for the third consecutive year.
• The number of cost-burdened homeowners rose by 646,000 to 20.3 million in 2023, with rising costs partly due to increased insurance premiums and property taxes.
• As of early 2025, home prices are up 60% nationwide since 2019 and still rising at a rate of 3.9% year over year.
• New home sales increased by 3% last year with many builders responding to affordability pressures by building smaller homes with fewer amenities.
• Last year, the monthly mortgage payments on the median-priced home rose to $2,570 for a 30-year loan with a 3.5% downpayment. This marks a record breaking mortgage payment, 40% higher than in 1990.
• Rental demand has increased with the renter population increasing by 848,000 in 2024.

“There must be a concerted effort to do more to address the affordability and supply crises,” says Chris Herbert, managing director of the Center. “The potential consequences of inaction are simply too harmful to the macroeconomy and the millions of households striving for a safe, affordable place to call home.”

Click here to read the full report.