Why This Matters

Homeownership has long been a cornerstone of the American dream. For millions of families, owning a home has been the gateway to financial prosperity, upward mobility, and the intergenerational transfer of wealth. The value proposition of American homeownership is in part owed to the US housing finance system, a complex and masterfully coordinated partnership among actors across the private sector, the public sector, and capital markets around the globe.

But after nearly a century of making homeownership possible for millions, the housing finance system is at a crossroads. Political, economic, societal, and technological trends present challenges, but also hold great promise, for the continued viability of homeownership and the system that facilitates it.

Since 2013, the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center (HFPC) has provided timely, relevant, rigorous, trusted, and data-driven analyses that have helped the system evolve and remain effective in making homeownership possible for millions. Ensuring that the system continues to work for future generations—even in the face of dynamic economic, societal, and technological shifts—requires cutting-edge, evidence-based research and insights to help guide market, policy, and industry decisions

Here, we present how HFPC’s research and platform—from in-depth empirical analyses to our data-rich monthly housing finance chartbook, to our timely and relevant rapid-response capabilities—can continue to inform a housing finance system that functions well for all its participants.

Key Takeaways

In this brief, we envision what a bright future of homeownership, with a well-functioning housing finance system, could look like and the research needed to inform solutions to achieve such a vision:

• An abundant supply of high-quality and affordable homes: What are the best approaches to track and tackle housing shortages? What role can financing innovations play? What policies can effectively unlock new supply and improve affordability? What more can be done to preserve the existing housing stock?
• The opportunity to access homeownership for those who are ready: What does the future homebuying market look like? What tools can help make first-time homeownership possible? What are the opportunities and barriers to expand new innovations in on-ramps to homeownership? How can the credit box be expanded effectively and safely? What can be done to lower the “cash to close” barrier?
• Sustainable homeownership that ensures its wealth-building benefits: How can servicing, loss mitigation, and foreclosure prevention lower the risks of homeownership? How can homeownership continue to ensure economic stability and long-term, intergenerational wealth building? How can homeownership remain financially stable as insurance costs and other costs become less predictable and as climate-related risks increase?

Creating this future will require coordination across the system’s participants. Ensuring that public, private, and philanthropic actors make effective decisions to tackle these challenges depends on the availability of high-quality research, data, and evidence to inform them. More than ever, HFPC’s research is critical to align actors on shared goals to achieve this vision for the future of homeownership and housing finance.