Number of Households Facing Moderate, Severe Burdens

Number of Owner and Renter Households, by Real Income and Level of Housing Cost Burden, 2001-2016; in millions

Sources: MBA and Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies

Each year, Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies releases its State of the Nation’s Housing report, of which MBA’s Research Institute for Housing America (RIHA) is a sponsor. One of the key statistics is the number of households facing moderate (more than 30 percent of income goes to housing) and severe (more than 50 percent goes to housing) burdens. The numbers tell an important story about affordability, and also about how households and the housing market interacted before, during and after the Great Recession.  

Before the recession, there was a shift from renting to owning among households earning $45,000 and more. During the recession, there was growth in the number of households earning less than $30,000 (a large share of whom were renters facing severe burdens), and a decline in households earning more than $75,000 (a large share of whom were owners and had previously faced no burden). After the recession, there was a slow decline in the number of households earning less than $30,000, a rapid increase in the number earning $75,000 or more (both renters and owners), and a shift from owning to renting among households earning between $30,000 and $75,000.

Recent data from the Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancy Survey shows the home-ownership rate has grown over the past year with the addition of 1.5 million owner households.

Jamie Woodwell is the Mortgage Bankers Association’s vice president of commercial real estate research.

Reggie Booker is the Mortgage Bankers Association’s associate director of commercial real estate research.