New York (AP) — Two studies released Wednesday show that after the pandemic, the country’s housing availability and affordability crisis has worsened significantly, with housing between black, Latin and white households. Inequalities can widen and home ownership can be out of reach. Of lower class Americans.

Both reports call for government action through traditional measures such as down payment assistance and a significant increase in housing construction to address the problem.

The reports from Harvard University and the National Association of Realtors come from different perspectives, but ultimately come to the same conclusion. The United States has not built enough homes to cope with population growth, causing record housing availability, and rising home prices are pushing up home ownership. Out of reach of millions of Americans.

If there are no major changes in home construction and affordability of homes, the result will be more or less a permanent renter class, in contrast to most likely white homeowners. These problems were known before the coronavirus pandemic, but the economic impact of the pandemic exacerbated the problem, the report said.

“The unprecedented events of 2020 have exposed and amplified the impact of unequal access to decent and affordable homes,” wrote researchers at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Research. “These inequality is likely to persist as the economy recovers, and many low-income households take longer to recover their financial base and face the potential for eviction and foreclosure of peasants.”

According to another study released Wednesday by the National Association of Real Estate Agents, the U.S. housing market is launching at least 5.5 million new units to meet demand and keep home ownership affordable over the next decade. Need to build. This is in addition to an average of about 1.2 million homes a year, or about 60% increase in home construction over the next decade, just to keep up with demand.

“The scale of construction shortages and the existing supply-demand gap are huge, by expanding resources, addressing barriers to new development and making new housing construction an integral part of the country’s infrastructure strategy, all types of housing. We need a major national commitment to build more, “Rosen Consulting Group Kennes Rosen, David Bank, Maxhall, Scott Reed, and Carson Goldman wrote in a report to NAR.

A report from the National Association of Real Estate Agents points out some areas that require a significant increase in housing construction. Not surprisingly, California and many parts of the West are at the top of the list. The NAR also states that significant housing construction is needed not only in southern Florida, but also in the northeast, especially in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area.

Without additional housing, the increasing share of Americans could become a renter in the coming years. Leasing isn’t necessarily a bad thing because of its flexibility, but home ownership has been a major driver of wealth creation in the United States since World War II. As seen in the pandemic, home equity is often a way for Americans to have an economic safety net in times of economic trouble.

These problems are exacerbated when categorized by racial background. Black and Latin homeowners save less than white homeowners. Potential white homeowners also have a generation of wealth that they potentially utilize in the form of down payments.

Harvard researchers said, “The difference in circumstances between those who have the resources to survive the economic stagnation and those who simply struggle to float is already a major income and wealth inequality. Equality has increased. ”

Besides the significant increase in housing construction, researchers at Harvard University pointed out that affordable government housing programs are likely to be the best solution to address the problem in the long run. ..

“Any of the many new proposals to provide down payment assistance to socially disadvantaged buyers will potentially bring millions of low-income and colored households to home ownership.”