In the media

City street at sunset

Our research is regularly cited in national and local news outlets; below is some of our recent press coverage.

To be added to our media list, please contact [email protected] or call (617) 495-7640. If you have an interview request, please include your name, press affiliation, phone number, questions/topic, and your deadline. Please do not email our researchers directly. 

USA Today

Americans move to Texas, Florida and Alabama as more work from home since COVID

However, there are still a lot of Americans who can't afford to move because of the rising cost of mortgages, rents, and the ongoing pandemic, said Riordan Frost, a research analyst at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. "There's an assumption that most Americans have figured it all out, but that's totally not the case," said Frost, who's written extensively about where Americans have moved during the pandemic.

CNBC

Here’s how inflation is hitting everything you buy for your home

“The rising costs of labor and construction materials, difficulty retaining contractors, and climbing interest rates could discourage owners from undertaking new or larger remodeling projects,” said Abbe Will, associate project director of the Remodeling Futures Program at JCHS.

CNBC

Soaring rental prices make it even more difficult to save for a house

By the end of 2021, the number of renter households increased by about 870,000 compared with the first quarter of 2020, according to a report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. The overall rental vacancy rate had dropped to the lowest level since the mid-1980s.

ProPublica

When Private Equity Becomes Your Landlord

Rents nearly doubled in many major cities over the decade, despite slow wage growth that often failed to meet the rising cost of housing. That put renters in a financial vise, with the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard reporting that nearly half paid rent equal to 30% or more of their income in 2019.

CityLab

US Housing Costs Surge, With No End In Sight

US cities are also seeing “absolutely wild increases in rents right now,” said Whitney Airgood-Obrycki, a research associate and author at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), which just released a report on the country’s surging rental market.

Marketplace

Vacancies are down, demand is up, and rents are rising

A recent report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University found that there were nearly 900,000 more people renting in late 2021 than there were in early 2020. Meanwhile, the current vacancy rate is just under 6% — the lowest it’s been since the 1980s.