News Roundup

  • Rising Rents Are Expected to Drive Inflation This Year
    /

    Average rents rose 14 percent last year and as much as 40 percent in major cities like Austin, Miami, and New York. “The pandemic was kind of a pause on the economy and now that things are reopening, inflation is picking up, rents are going up and people are realizing they don’t have as much disposable income as they might have thought they had,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. This year, high rent prices are expected to drive inflation. Even if inflation declines for other components of the consumer price index, rising rents could keep inflation elevated all year, noted Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic.

  • How Will California Address Conflicting Climate and Housing Concerns?
    /

    In January, a California judge halted a $1 billion development that promised to bring jobs to the region because the planners couldn’t account for how residents and workers would escape wildfires. It’s one of several cases that underscore the tension between California’s housing crisis and climate crises. “There’s a shift taking place,” said Char Miller, a professor of environmental analysis at Pomona College. “These developments are raising big questions about how Californians are going to live in a place that constantly burns.”

  • Some Philadelphia Renters Facing Eviction Will Be Guaranteed Free Lawyers
    /

    A new Philadelphia right-to-counsel program will guarantee free legal representation for hundreds of renters if their landlords file for eviction. It aims to help residents with low incomes remain in their homes or exit on better terms. For now, it is limited to two zip codes with higher-than-average eviction and poverty rates. “We know that when tenants go to court without an attorney, they are more likely to sign agreements that they can’t necessarily keep because they don’t know that they have the option to negotiate a better agreement,” Rachel Garland, managing attorney of the housing unit at Community Legal Services.

  • Report Finds Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing Is Vanishing in Colorado
    /

    A new report by Colorado’s Affordable Housing Transformational Task Force found that in the past decade alone, the state has lost 300,000 “naturally occurring” affordable housing units. The report’s findings are no surprise to Coloradans, who have had to make decisions as to whether they can stay in that area and afford to live there. The task force recommends that Colorado use the additional $400 million of federal money to create grants and incentives that encourage development of affordable housing and at least about $150 million dedicated to a revolving loan fund that is constantly replenished.