Why we’re publishing a series on America’s housing crunch

House prices have spiked and well-priced rentals are increasingly hard to come by. How has the dream of an affordable home become so hard to reach?

America is in the midst of a housing shortage. Affordable housing options are shrinking, and there is an ongoing spike in housing costs. For many people, the rollercoaster housing market and US housing policy are a cause of instability.

Expensive housing also drives increasing economic and racial inequality and worse health outcomes. Meanwhile on any one night, there are over half a million Americans who are unhoused, and millions more live, if not on the streets, then on the edge of homelessness.