Project

Housing Policy Initiative

Sections

Housing Policy Initiative
Policy Pulse: Economic Advancement

Housing is the largest regular expense for most Americans. But a record housing shortage and skyrocketing rents and home prices mean millions of Americans now struggle to afford housing.

The Pew Charitable Trusts’ housing policy initiative works to help policymakers reimagine their approach to housing by illuminating how regulations and statutes drive the housing shortage and rising costs. Strict zoning and land-use regulations have limited the availability of homes, especially lower-cost options such as apartments and townhouses, which could otherwise help meet the nation’s housing demand. At the same time, outdated financial regulations have prevented millions of creditworthy homebuyers—especially Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous people, and those in rural communities—from obtaining a mortgage to finance a low-cost home, pushing many borrowers into riskier and more costly alternative financing arrangements.

Pew studies the ways that policymakers can increase housing availability and safe home financing by revising land-use regulations that have reduced housing supply and increased costs, improve access to small mortgages—those under $150,000—and make non-mortgage financing arrangements safer for homebuyers.

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36 million Americans

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36 million Americans have used alternative financing at some point to pursue homeownership. TWEET

30%

Rents rose by 30% from Jan. 2017 to Jan. 2023. TWEET
Family eating dinner at table
Family eating dinner at table
Issue Brief

Millions Using Risky Financing Arrangements to Buy Homes

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Issue Brief

Most homebuyers in the U.S. use mortgages to purchase their homes. However, many others use alternative financing arrangements, such as rent-to-own, that research indicates are generally riskier, more costly, and subject to far weaker consumer protections and regulatory oversight than traditional mortgages.

Home Visitors Annai Burrola (white dress) and Jessica Apodaca (red shirt) meet with Santa Fe, NM families via United Way of Santa Fe as part of the First Born Home Visit Program.
Home Visitors Annai Burrola (white dress) and Jessica Apodaca (red shirt) meet with Santa Fe, NM families via United Way of Santa Fe as part of the First Born Home Visit Program.
Fact Sheet

Hispanic Homebuyers Most Likely to Use Risky Financing

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Fact Sheet

Hispanic homeownership has risen each year since 2014, accounting for more than half of U.S.

Lack of Financing Keeps Many Out of Manufactured Homes
Illustration of a manufactured house behind a blue grid background
Article

Lack of Financing Keeps Many Out of Manufactured Homes

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Article

Americans face significant challenges when it comes to securing housing. Record low supply has driven the ability to purchase a home out of reach for many, and lack of access to safe and affordable financing has made the pathway to homeownership more difficult for prospective homebuyers, especially for Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous families.

Washington, D.C. aerial view of homes
Washington, D.C. aerial view of homes
Article

Prospective Homeowners Turn to Alternative Financing

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Article

Rising housing costs coupled with difficultly accessing small mortgages have brought renewed attention to the alternative financing arrangements many Americans use to purchase homes. Although well-structured alternatives have the potential to boost opportunities for homeownership, especially among households that cannot access mortgages, existing models often introduce risks for homebuyers.

OUR WORK

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Why Do Millions of U.S. Homebuyers Use Risky Financing Options?
Short video describes challenging path to homeownership