Federal Reserve Bank of Boston cohosts State of the Nation’s Housing 2025 conference as median single-family home price reaches USD 412,500

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston published a recap of “The State of the Nation’s Housing 2025,” a conference cohosted with the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and several Federal Reserve Banks, focusing on the implications of record U.S. home prices for affordability and local economies. The event coincided with the release of the center’s annual housing report and highlighted that single-family home prices have risen by more than 60% since 2019, pushing the 2024 median price to USD 412,500. Boston Fed President and Chief Executive Officer Susan M. Collins framed housing affordability as a constraint on labor markets, business hiring, and household wealth-building, citing supply constraints, high construction costs, zoning-related challenges, and barriers to credit. Eric Belsky, Director of the Federal Reserve Board’s Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, linked housing conditions to both maximum employment and price stability, emphasizing housing’s sensitivity to interest rates and its influence on consumer spending, household financial vulnerability, and potential financial stability risks when steep price declines coincide with high unemployment. A panel of Reserve Bank community affairs leaders also shared regional research on issues including multifamily property maintenance constraints, housing challenges for older adults, and efforts to expand more affordable first-time buyer options such as smaller homes, town homes, duplexes, and co-ops.