“The cost estimates that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) developed for the four selected information technology (IT) investments were unreliable and, thus, lacked a sound basis for informing the department’s investment and budgetary decisions. GAO’s Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide (Cost Guide) defines best practices that are associated with four characteristics of… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Housing
Research – Basic Facts about Low-Income Children in America
National Center for Children in Poverty Report January 2017 – “Among all children under 18 years in the U.S., 43 percent live in low-income families and 21 percent—approximately one in five—lives in a poor family. This means that children are overrepresented among our nation’s poor; they represent 23 percent of the population but comprise 33… Continue Reading
New OECD Affordable Housing Database
“Access to good-quality affordable housing is a fundamental need and key to achieving a number of social policy objectives, including reducing poverty and enhancing equality of opportunity, social inclusion and mobility. Housing needs are frequently unmet, and today a significant number of people across the OECD are homeless and too many households live in low-quality… Continue Reading
President Donald J. Trump Announces His Cabinet
White House prress release, February 8, 2017 reflects a cabinet with designees still awaiting confirmation: President Donald J. Trump today formally announced the 24 people who will be serving with him on his Cabinet. Unfilled positions – Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, EPA, HUD, Interior, Labor, Small Business, Veterans Affairs, OMB, Director of National Intelligence and the… Continue Reading
Turning Homeowners into Outlaws: How Anti-Home-Sharing Regulations Chip Away at the Foundation of an American Dream
Sandefur, Christina, Turning Homeowners into Outlaws: How Anti-Home-Sharing Regulations Chip Away at the Foundation of an American Dream (January 30, 2017). University of Hawaii Law Review, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2908248 ““Home-sharing” may sound like a modern invention, part of the cutting-edge, high-tech “sharing economy.” In fact, home-sharing is a centuries-old American tradition. For generations,… Continue Reading
Beige Book Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions By Federal Reserve District January 2017
Overall Economic Activity – “Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts indicated that the economy continued to expand at a modest pace across most regions from late November through the end of the year. Manufacturers in most Districts reported increased sales with several citing a turnaround versus earlier in 2016. Growth in the energy industry… Continue Reading
The Online Atlas of Urban Expansion
“The Atlas of Urban Expansion, an open-source online resource with maps, satellite images, and data on spatial changes in cities around the world, has been revised and updated. The new database is a partnership of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, UN-Habitat, and New York University, The Atlas of Urban Expansion now features a global… Continue Reading
2015 American Housing Survey Statistics for Selected Metropolitan Areas
“This release of statistics from the 2015 American Housing Survey includes summary tables for the 15 largest metropolitan areas and 10 additional metropolitan areas. The 2015 American Housing Survey examined many characteristics, including: Housing costs for owners and renters. Remodeling and repair frequency. Reasons for moving. Additionally, the latest survey data provide statistics about: Food… Continue Reading
Updated Household Projections, 2015 – 2035: Methodology and Results
“Using new Census Bureau projections and a revised methodology for predicting headship rates, this paper updates the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies’ (JCHS) household projections for 2015 to 2035. The paper incorporates new population projections from the US Census Bureau that are substantially larger than the Census Bureau’s previous projections.The paper also makes… Continue Reading
GAO Report on Climate Change
Climate Change: Improved Federal Coordination Could Facilitate Use of Forward-Looking Climate Information in Design Standards, Building Codes, and Certifications, GAO-17-3: Published: Nov 30, 2016. Publicly Released: Jan 3, 2017. “The houses we live in, buildings we work in, and roads and bridges we use daily are supposed to be built to last—whatever the local forecast… Continue Reading
US Sues Barclays Bank to Recover Civil Penalties for Fraud in the Sale of Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities
News release: “The United States Department of Justice today filed a civil complaint in the Eastern District of New York against Barclays Bank PLC and several of its United States affiliates (together, Barclays), alleging that Barclays engaged in a fraudulent scheme to sell residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) supported by defective and misrepresented mortgage loans. As… Continue Reading
In a Recovering Market, Homeownership Rates Are Down Sharply for Blacks, Young Adults
“Even as home values climb back from the dramatic fall that helped set off the Great Recession, homeownership in the United States stands at its lowest level in at least 20 years. As of the third quarter of this year only 63.5% of households own their homes, down significantly from the modern peak of 69.0%… Continue Reading
