Market Matters

Parking, local opposition add to affordable housing costs, study finds Source: LA Times A new report from several state housing agencies concludes that community opposition, design changes and parking are among the factors driving up the cost of building affordable housing in California. The report comes as California grapples with a massive affordable housing shortage. Los Angeles County alone needs nearly 500,000 more units to meet the area's need. The study estimates that projects with major community opposition saw their costs go up by 5 percent and underground parking added 6 percent to the cost. Read the full story

Which Americans Are Most Likely to Own Homes? Source: Wall St. Journal   A new study by Ancestry.com Inc. found that some jobs that weren’t especially high-paying had higher homeownership rates than occupations with bigger paychecks. Firefighters, for example, rank very highly; 84 percent own homes. Meanwhile, 78 percent of mail carriers own homes, which is the same rate as for lawyers and judges. Teachers (74 percent) ranked higher than economists (64 percent). Notably, just 33 percent of people in the armed forces own, making them one of the lowest-ranking groups. Read the full story

A Victory for a Fairer Housing Market Source: Huffington Post Julián Castro, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has announced successful HUD efforts to address maternity leave lending discrimination. For example, as part of a settlement with HUD, Wells Fargo will compensate families who experienced discrimination because they were pregnant or on maternity leave when they applied for a loan. Castro stated, “It's unquestionably wrong that a family would unfairly lose out on buying a home or refinancing a loan at any time, but especially at a time when they need it most.” Read the full story You Don’t Need to Be Perfect to Get a U.S. Loan Anymore Source: Bloomberg While credit is still almost 90 percent tighter than in the housing bubble that ended in 2006, a Mortgage Bankers Association measure of credit availability has shown a 4.7 percent loosening this year. Established lenders remain reluctant to ease their rules, but this has created opportunities for smaller firms, many of which are now offering slightly riskier mortgages, sometimes at higher interest rates or requiring larger down payments. Read the full story