Housing

  • View of Hammock Lake in Miami-Dade County.
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    Interactive map tracks housing shortages across Florida

    The Sunshine State needs more than 120,000 housing units. The tracker’s developers say its data could help local leaders make informed decisions.

    By • Oct. 10, 2025
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    Courtesy of Lumen Villas

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    This small Texas town has a housing affordability problem. Can it print its way out?

    A company that builds homes using 3D printing technology is building a nine-home community in Marfa, Texas, and an 80-home development in Houston. It says the technology could address the “affordability crisis across Texas and the U.S.”

    By • Oct. 9, 2025
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    Trendline

    Top 5 stories from Smart Cities Dive

    From worsening climate change to a shifting transportation landscape and the housing affordability crisis, cities have their work cut out for them.

    By Smart Cities Dive staff
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    Zoning reforms, tax incentives help drive NYC’s office-to-housing boom

    Office conversions have nearly tripled as the city takes action to address a housing shortage and historically high office vacancy rates.

    By Joe Burns • Oct. 9, 2025
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    How the government shutdown is (and isn’t) impacting housing funds for cities

    Previously approved federal housing funding streams remain available, but staff reductions could threaten core functions.

    By • Oct. 8, 2025
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    Court upholds New Jersey affordable housing mandate, dismisses suit from cities

    The 27 cities vow to continue their legal challenges to the state law.

    By • Oct. 6, 2025
  • Low angle view of a modern style apartment building, with lots of windows on a sunny, cloudy day
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    Modern multifamily buildings see ‘far better fire safety outcomes’ than other housing types, Pew report finds

    Fire deaths in modern multifamily homes occur at one-fourth the rate of those in modern single-family homes, the report found.

    By • Oct. 1, 2025
  • Man is a suit at a podium in front of a sign that reads "NLC - National League of Cities"
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    Dan Zukowski/Smart Cities Dive
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    Top smart city conferences in 2026

    Technology, housing, climate action, transportation, public safety and more take center stage at events for local government leaders in 2026.

    By Smart Cities Dive Staff • Oct. 1, 2025
  • HUD BNPL buy now pay later lending mortgages housing consumer credit
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    Kent Nishimura via Getty Images
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    HUD cuts multifamily mortgage insurance premiums

    The agency also eliminated three mortgage insurance premium categories for green and affordable housing that it said were not aligned with Trump’s policy agenda.

    By Julie Strupp • Sept. 30, 2025
  • Four people wearing hard hats on scaffolding in front of a brick building.
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    NYC launches effort to rescue at-risk affordable co-ops

    The two-year pilot program offers loans and technical support to help co-ops pay off debts, settle government arrears and renovate vacant units.

    By Danielle McLean • Sept. 30, 2025
  • A small blue house sits next to a larger yellow house in a yard.
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    Massachusetts opened the door for ADUs this year. It has approved 550 so far.

    Under the Affordable Homes Act, which legalized accessory dwelling units in the state, up to 10,000 could be built over the next five years, a state agency estimates.

    By • Sept. 29, 2025
  • Aerial view of Las Vegas, Nevada.
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    Ethan Miller via Getty Images
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    Nevada strikes settlement with RealPage over rent-setting software

    The deal places new limits on how rental data can be used and funds rent relief. Similar lawsuits from state and local governments are still pending.

    By Julie Strupp • Sept. 29, 2025
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    Santa Clara County records surge in first-time homelessness

    The latest data, gathered via a new “survey-first” approach, showed an 8.2% increase in people experiencing homelessness in the California county.

    By • Sept. 26, 2025
  • BNPL buy now pay later loans HUD housing
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    Kent Nishimura via Getty Images
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    Whistleblowers accuse HUD of ‘systematically undermining’ fair housing laws

    A gutted workforce and gag orders are preventing the Office of Fair Housing from performing its duties, staffers within the office say.

    By • Sept. 25, 2025
  • Aerial view of an apartment building under construction with a crane above.
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    Scott Halleran via Getty Images
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    Affordable housing developers sue over new Texas law

    Under HB21, cities must approve all housing finance corporation deals and verify affordability through audits. Developers say the law could shrink supply and upend existing agreements.

    By Julie Strupp • Sept. 25, 2025
  • Street view of several three-story housing buildings
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    5 takeaways from Harvard’s Unlocking the Missing Middle housing report

    The university’s Joint Center for Housing Studies is examining “missing middle” housing in Massachusetts.

    By • Sept. 23, 2025
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    David Ryder/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Amazon pledged to deliver affordable housing to the Puget Sound region. It just hit 10,000 units.

    The milestone resulted from the company’s $900 million investment in housing that will remain affordable for 99 years.

    By • Sept. 19, 2025
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    Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Amid encampment crackdowns, Maui County, Hawaiʻi, explores ‘compassionate’ approach

    A county bill would require notice about encampment removal schedules and assurances the people living in them could remain with their companions and have their personal possessions stored.

    By • Sept. 18, 2025
  • A silver bart train runs over a street.
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    California set to allow denser housing by transit

    Gov. Gavin Newsom will soon review SB 79, new legislation that will make it easier to build multifamily housing near major train stops and rapid bus lines.

    By Julie Strupp • Sept. 17, 2025
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    Houston had outpaced the nation in addressing homelessness. Now it’s facing a setback.

    The city’s unsheltered homeless population jumped 16% in 2025, new point-in-time data shows.

    By • Sept. 15, 2025
  • Three worn tents on a city sidewalk
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    Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Judge temporarily blocks new HUD housing grant criteria

    “The irreparable harm is that these funds would be lost forever by anybody that intends to apply,” U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy said.

    By • Updated Sept. 16, 2025
  • A highway with cars on it in front of a city skyline. Two large cranes line the highway next to new construction.
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    San Francisco’s permitting reform seeks an end to building project ‘death by a thousand cuts’

    San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s latest permitting reform package loosens restrictions on historic buildings, reduces fees and clears the path for accessory dwelling units in the city.

    By • Sept. 11, 2025
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    Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    With an executive order, Maryland aims to build more houses faster

    Gov. Wes Moore wants to shrink permitting timelines, set housing production targets and use state land for transit-oriented development.

    By • Sept. 10, 2025
  • A blue tent on a city street with a view of skyscrapers in the background
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    California forms task force to clear homeless encampments

    The task force will target encampments on state rights-of-way in the state’s 10 largest cities, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

    By • Sept. 9, 2025
  • A home under construction
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    Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Chicago eases parking mandates to spur affordable housing development

    Developments near public transit can reduce the amount of off-street parking by up to 100% without administrative approval.

    By • Sept. 5, 2025
  • Aerial view of a modern houses in a new housing development.
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    A Virginia city eliminated single-family-only zoning. Then the lawsuits came.

    Roanoke, Virginia, is reassessing zoning reforms it passed last year after resident lawsuits cost the city tens of thousands in litigation.

    By • Sept. 3, 2025