High-density housing can provide a number of important benefits to communities and the residents who live there. All else being equal, research suggests that residents in high-density communities tend to be more physically active and healthy. Their costs for utilities…
Approximately 44 million U.S. households (or 35% of total) are renters, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Renters tend to move much more frequently than homeowners. For example, 51% of renters surveyed in the 2019 American Community Survey…
The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the real estate market in the U.S. in many ways, changing where families want to live and the types of housing they prefer. Early on in the pandemic, many families in densely populated urban areas…
One of the major economic stories in recent months has been rising concerns about inflation. While year-over-year wage growth in the U.S. has reached its fastest rate in decades this year, the benefit of rising wages for most households has…
No household wants to face a pest problem, but over 14 million U.S. households encounter rodents, roaches, or other pests each year, according to the Census Bureau. These pests can trigger a variety of health concerns including asthma and may…
While the majority of Americans take running water and indoor plumbing for granted, a surprising number of residents don’t have running water, flushing toilets, or showers in their homes. In fact, according to the U.S. Water Alliance, over 2 million…
The labor market recovery from COVID-19 continues to be challenging in many industries and professions. Job growth has been slower than expected in recent months during the spread of the Delta variant. Simultaneously, many industries—particularly with lower-wage jobs—are struggling to…
As with many industries, the construction industry experienced major setbacks in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Construction projects across the U.S. stopped, and employment in the industry fell by 14% from March 2020 to April 2020. While the…
While many industries suffered during the pandemic, construction kept going strong amid low interest rates and increased housing demand. Ironically, even though construction is booming, firms are having a hard time finding labor. Experts are divided on why this is,…
More than 18 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, much about the pandemic-era economy remains unusual and difficult to analyze. From a labor market that has both worker shortages and high unemployment to supply chain breakdowns and inflation fears, it has…
The residential real estate market has been booming during the COVID-19 pandemic, with more buyers looking for homes and competing for unusually low levels of inventory. With new supply desperately needed, the market currently presents enormous opportunities for builders and…
With red-hot demand for residential construction nationwide, many builders are struggling to find the professionals they need to keep up. One recent forecast from a national trade association estimated that an additional 430,000 construction professionals will be needed in the…
The construction industry took a huge hit in 2020 due to pandemic-induced shutdowns and work stoppages. While construction is now booming in many cities across the country due to pent-up demand for new homes and low interest rates, construction employment…
As the economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most pronounced effects is on the job market for lower-wage professions. Low-wage workers were among the hardest hit when large portions of the economy shut down at…
While the potential for trillions of dollars of new infrastructure spending looms on the horizon, America’s construction industry is struggling to even keep pace with current demand for new homes, businesses, roads, and bridges. A shortage of supplies and employees…
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, America’s housing boom has surged to new heights thanks to a combination of factors that homebuyers haven’t experienced since before the housing bubble more than a dozen years ago. To begin with, fall…
As the U.S. begins to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and work towards economic recovery, one of the major economic issues to watch in the months and years ahead is housing. The pandemic has in some ways increased economic inequality,…
While 2020 was a year that many industries would soon like to forget, plumbers’ popularity hit all-time highs. According to Google search trends, searches for local plumbers and other contractors hit their highest levels in five years as more homeowners…
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, homeowners across the country used their spare time to tackle overdue home projects. As the year continued, a combination of factors, including low interest rates and rising home prices, helped fuel a…
More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the biggest economic stories has been the red-hot residential real estate market. Housing inventory is at all-time lows, but low interest rates, government stimulus, increased household savings, and a growing…
