On Friday, September 20, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies will present a virtual session, “Helping Middle-Income Renters: Trade-offs and Costs,” at 11:15 a.m. Central Time.
The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies strives to improve equitable access to decent, affordable homes in thriving communities. The Center conducts research to advance policy and practice, and brings together diverse stakeholders to spark new ideas for addressing the nation’s housing challenges. Through teaching and fellowships, the Center seeks to mentor and inspire the next generation of housing leaders.
During “Helping Middle-Income Renters: Trade-offs and Costs,” Alexander Hermann, a Senior Research Associate at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, will explain how a growing number of middle-income renters across the nation remain cost-burdened, forced to spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs. In response to this dilemma, many states and communities have adopted policies and programs to assist these renters. However, some housing advocates fear that these initiatives will redirect resources away from lower-income households with the greatest need. “Helping Middle-Income Renters: Trade-offs and Costs” will discuss a new working paper that examines the structures, goals, and potential benefits of these programs, including the policy tradeoffs that might occur if government programs prioritize the affordability challenges of middle-income renters.
A Senior Research Associate, Hermann focuses his work on projects related to U.S. housing markets, demographics, and housing policy.
Hermann was one of the authors of the research paper, “Subsidizing the Middle: Policies, Tradeoffs, and Costs of Addressing Middle-Income Affordability Challenges,” discussing how housing affordability deteriorated rapidly during the pandemic, thus accelerating a longer-term rise in cost burdens. In his research, he found that the number of cost-burdened renter households hit a new peak in 2022 at 22.4 million, a rise of nearly two million households since the outset of the Covid crisis.
Prior to joining the Center, Hermann worked as a grant writer at a Detroit nonprofit, providing housing and treatment services to homeless populations. He received a Master’s in Public Policy and a Master’s in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan.
Click here for more information or to register for “Helping Middle-Income Renters: Trade-offs and Costs.”
Also in the Week Ahead
- Fannie Mae’s Refinance Application-Level Index (RALI) (Tuesday)
- MBA Weekly Applications Survey (Wednesday)
- HUD/Census Bureau New Residential Construction Report (Wednesday)
- Realtor.com Weekly Housing Market Recap (Wednesday)
- Senate Banking Committee Hearing: The Macroeconomic Impacts of Potential Tax Reform in 2025 (Wednesday)
- NAR August Existing-Home Sales (Thursday)
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (Thursday)
