Housing is a vital component for a healthy and thriving life. However, due to the high cost of housing, not all people have a decent home in a suitable living environment. For individuals, housing can make up a large proportion of their incomes. For society, housing costs do not stand alone but closely interact with its environment, including its neighborhood as well as the market system and policy.
SPI’s Housing Initiatives views housing issues as societal, and it is a key component to understand broad socioeconomic phenomena and their policy implications. By evaluating housing as both an explanatory factor and an outcome, we explore how housing affects and is affected by various social issues. Recent research topics include the long-lasting housing market inequity and systematic discrimination in the housing market, economic downturns, natural disasters, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We explore diverse housing issues from varying scopes and methods. Our rich data assets encompass varying regional scopes, from a local neighborhood to a metropolitan area, and even include global perspectives. SPI’s research capacity and network enable us to view housing issues from diverse perspectives with collaborators from various academic backgrounds and global training. We also adopt varying empirical methods and methodologies, including qualitative approaches, in addition to our quantitative approaches such as econometrics and spatial models.
Our Housing Initiatives
Latest Publications
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Housing Instability During the COVID-19 Pandemic: the Role of Assets and Income Shocks
Habitat for Humanity International awards $350,000 to investigate impact of housing on wealth building
