On my block, a 17-story high-rise went up that’s giving my neighbors and me serious cases of apartment envy: Longview boasts every luxury you’d see in a White Lotus–level hotel (24/7 concierge service, billiards room, golf/sports simulator, outdoor yoga terrace, Peloton studio, pet spa) then tops it off with a landscaped roof deck with fire pits, wet bar, and even a dog run so Fido can poop on the roof and stretch his legs while you sip a martini and admire the Manhattan skyline.

Most enviable of all, though, is that certain units at Longview rent for just $874 per month, even though other units in the building go for over $7,000.

This obscenely low rent is possible because Longview incorporates affordable housing, proving just how far these once-humble developments have come. Far from being run-down “projects,” these government-subsidized units mingle seamlessly with neighboring market-rate apartments and are indistinguishable, except for the price.

The people who qualify for these units may surprise you, too. Within Longview’s 197 apartments, the 50 “affordable” units went to tenants earning 130% of the area’s median income, ranging from $35,589 up to $150,930 per year.

In other words, living at the poverty level isn’t required. You could simply be an average American who could use a little help putting a roof over your head.

Who doesn’t need affordable housing?

With housing affordability near crisis levels nationwide, demand for government-subsidized homes has soared. Housing lotteries are mobbed with applicants, lengthening wait times by 42% from 2009 to 2023, according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Applicants spend over two years on average waiting (and praying) for one of these coveted deals.

“People who never considered affordable housing before are now competing for units because market rents became impossible,” says Los Angeles real estate agent Wesley Kang at 1099Cafe. “Application numbers went through the roof during the pandemic and never came back down. One affordable project in Santa Monica got 12,000 applications for 85 units last year, compared to 4,000 applications for similar projects in 2019.”

Kang once worked with a client for three years to land a unit. “He was looking to buy a condo in Los Angeles with his $85,000 salary but got priced out of everything despite having $40,000 saved,” he recalls. “I helped him apply to 15 different affordable housing lotteries.”

Eventually, their hard work paid off. “His unit in West L.A. costs him $1,800 monthly, while identical apartments in his building rent for $4,200 to market-rate tenants,” Kang says. “The complex looks exactly like luxury market-rate housing with modern finishes, rooftop deck, and gym facilities. Developers figured out that attractive design costs almost the same as ugly buildings, so you’d never guess it was affordable housing without seeing the income requirements.”

Is affordable housing a good investment?

The good news is that certain states are stepping up and building more affordable housing, with Delaware, New Jersey, and West Virginia leading the way. Legislation working its way through Congress, like the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act, aims to add and preserve more than 500,000 affordable homes across the country over the next 10 years.

In uncertain economic times such as these, savvy real estate investors have also taken a renewed interest in affordable housing.

“Rental units that cost below-market become even more coveted in a recession,” explains Brian Davis at SparkRental. “Last year, our co-investing club invested in a multifamily property where the new operator partnered with the local municipality to set aside 50% of the units for affordable housing, in exchange for a 50% abatement on property taxes. Sure, they took a small hit on gross revenue, but they more than made up for it with savings on property taxes. Meanwhile, they have a waiting list for those units. They’ll keep renting those out with 100% occupancy and no loss in rents or concessions.”

Landlords can also join the Federal Housing Choice Voucher program, which currently houses 2.3 million low-income tenants nationwide whose rent is subsidized by Section 8 vouchers. Despite what many think, landlords who do this collect the same rent that they would with market-rate apartments; the Public Housing Agency pays what tenants can’t cover (here’s a more comprehensive list of affordable housing myths that aren’t true).

Affordable housing real estate investment trusts (REITs) are yet another easy way to invest in affordable housing without the hassles of owning an entire rental property. And, in addition to being recession-friendly investments, you can take heart in knowing you’re playing a small part in making housing a little bit more affordable for everyone.

Curious to see just how luxurious affordable housing can be? Click here to see more photos of Longview.

A home’s architectural style says so much—not only about your tastes but also how much it’s worth. Research by Realtor.com finds that Mediterranean-style homes are the most expensive, listing at a median of $725,000 due to their larger-than-average size and prime locations (think Los Angeles and Miami). Meanwhile, ranch homes are the most reasonable at $369,000. If you’re looking for an architectural style that will appreciate over time, Craftsman, ranch, and modern have all shot up the most, at over 43% in the past six years.

Down payments have dropped. A Redfin report found that the typical US homebuyer’s down payment is $62,468—down by about 1% year over year, the first annual decrease in nearly two years. This suggests that homebuyers’ budgets are indeed tightening, and it also explains why FHA and VA loans—which require down payments of just 3.5% and 0% respectively—are becoming more common, making up 15% and 7% of homebuyers today.

The Energy Star may be fading. Now that the Environmental Protection Agency may dismantle the beloved Energy Star program—which offers about $3,200 per year in rebates and tax credits on 75 energy-efficient upgrades and appliances—does this mean going green will fall to the wayside? To help navigate the potential fallout and carve a path forward, Green Builder Media is offering a free webinar with Sam Rashkin, founding architect of Energy Star for Homes, on Thursday, June 26, at 2pm Eastern. Sign up here.

Should you slash a home’s price…or the mortgage rate? Research by Resiclub found that home builders have been leaning hard on mortgage rate buydowns to entice buyers to bite, with Lennar offering the biggest discounts, trimming 1.2% from typical rates. Many homebuilders insist that every dollar put toward a buydown adds up to greater savings for buyers while also preserving the on-paper value of a community’s housing comps, making it more of a win-win.

The number of luxury homes under $1 million is dwindling. Defined as the top 5% price-wise in an area, luxury homes were available for under $1 million in over 30 cities five years ago, but today, Redfin found that number has shrunk to just seven. Detroit’s mansions are the cheapest at $753,851, followed by Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, the priciest mansions are found in San Francisco, where they run around $6 million.

The World Cup is already shaking up short-term rentals. Although the 2026 FIFA World Cup is a year away, housing experts are already bracing for impact in many of the 16 cities around the world that teams will visit. Dallas is expected to welcome almost 49 visitors for every existing hotel room, which means short-term rental owners could cash in big time. However, concerns abound that once homeowners turn long-term rentals into short-term rentals, they never go back, which could curtail the supply of affordable housing.

Hate traffic jams, road rage, parallel parking, need we go on? You can leave it all in the rearview mirror by moving to Culdesac. This 17-acre neighborhood near Tempe, AZ, is the first in the US designed to be car-free. Ryan Johnson, a former Fulbright scholar and McKinsey analyst, worked in real estate and public transit before building the community in 2023. Here’s what inspired this oddly old-fashioned Utopia and why more car-free communities might be coming down the pike soon.

What inspired you to build the country’s first car-free neighborhood? “The inspiration for Culdesac came from visiting Europe. I grew up in the suburbs of Phoenix, driving an SUV, and hadn’t spent much time outside the US. But when I visited Budapest, I was inspired by the energy of the walkable neighborhoods. I really wanted to share that walkability with the US. Every generation would pay a premium to live in a walkable neighborhood, including 92% of Gen Z and 69% of Baby Boomers. The places we built before cars still perform better today. And now, with emerging transportation options like e-bikes, ride-hail, and autonomous vehicles, we have the opportunity to bring walkable neighborhoods back in the US in the 2020s. That’s why we’re building Culdesac.”

How large is the neighborhood? “Culdesac Tempe is a 17-acre neighborhood designed from scratch to be walkable and car-free. Instead of driveways and garages, we built plazas, courtyards, and retail spaces. Today, Culdesac Tempe is home to over 350 residents and 23 local businesses. Our latest buildings opened a few months ago and are almost fully leased. They leased up to 2.5 times faster than nearby competitors. When we’re finished building, we’ll have over 1,000 residents.”

Is it hard for some to adjust to living without a car? “Lots of people expect living without a car to be hard, but the reality is that it’s one of the most freeing things you can do. When you’re saving over $1,000 a month that would otherwise go to a car, you can instead spend it on more dinners or trips, or save it. It’s a shift for people who are used to relying on a private car for everything, but once you adjust, it just becomes your new normal.”

As a resident yourself, what have you found to be the best aspects of living in Culdesac? “One of my favorite things about living here is being able to walk out of my apartment to grab a bite to eat, hang out at the beer garden, or enjoy one of our monthly markets. People are often surprised how perfect walkable communities are for families because they assume that everyone needs a minivan, but that ignores all the things that are actually important, like relationships with neighbors, safe streets for play, and systems of mutual support. Another resident said he and his family have made more connections at Culdesac in six months than they did in 15 years in the suburbs. That’s the kind of community we’re enabling. And we’re just getting started. The demand for walkable neighborhoods has been incredible, both from residents and from cities. We’re bringing this model to more places across the country.”

Ready to shift into high gear? See more photos and info about Culdesac by clicking here.

While plenty of homeowners and real estate investors are familiar with home equity loans and lines of credit (HELOCs), home equity investments (HEIs) are a different animal that might seem a lot more friendly at first blush. Unlike home equity loans and lines of credit, which must be paid back with interest every month, home equity investments don’t require any payment until you sell your home or until your contract ends 10, 20, or even 30 years later. In other words, it’s a way to kick that pesky payment can waaay down the road.

Also called home equity agreements, HEIs are relatively new, emerging in 2006 with a company called Unison, followed by a handful of other players (Point, Hometap, and Unlock). Certain HEI companies like Horizon now even invite you to “transform dormant home equity into bitcoin,” enticing users with $500 worth of free bitcoin if they sign up.

HEIs are expected to expand as more people seek to tap into their home equity without saddling themselves with debt at today’s high interest rates. “With HELOC and home equity loan rates hovering between 8% and 9%, many are reluctant to take on additional monthly payments,” explains Sarah Dekin, president of home equity investment provider Hometap. “Despite a record $35 trillion in home equity nationwide, much of that wealth remains difficult to access.”

Tempted? As seductive as HEIs may seem, there are drawbacks. The most obvious is that when you sell your house, you’ll be sharing your profits. And generally, “You get less cash than the amount of equity you’re giving,” warns Melissa Cohn, regional vice president at William Raveis Mortgage. Plus, if you decide you don’t want to sell by the time your contract is up, you’re on the hook to pay back your entire loan. So, make sure to read the fine print of any HEI agreement. Here’s more on the pros and cons of home equity investments.