Manually researched analysis of the affordability, income, supply, demographic, and economic forces shaping U.S. housing markets. Each Insight separates source data, Metro Analytics methodology, and editorial interpretation so readers can see what the evidence supports.
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Explore our published analysis of U.S. housing markets, starting with the latest.
Migration & Demographics
12 min readU.S. metro areas added about 1.7 million residents in 2024–2025 despite net domestic outmigration. Here is what the latest Census data shows, and why neither population growth nor migration directly measures housing demand.
Supply & Vacancy
15 min readThe U.S. rental vacancy rate was 7.3% in Q2 2026, yet 10.5% of all housing units were vacant. Here is why those numbers measure different things, and what vacancy can and cannot tell you about housing supply.
Affordability & Income
11 min readTwelve of the 25 largest U.S. metros saw statistically significant real income growth in the 2024 Census data. But higher income isn't the same as affordable housing. Here is how to read metro income alongside housing values, financing, and supply.
Coverage areas
Four connected areas help explain what is happening in a housing market—and why.
How household earnings and housing values interact across markets.
What availability and vacancy signals can—and cannot—tell us about market pressure.
How population and household change affect the context around housing demand.
How labor conditions, inflation, rates, and related indicators shape the market backdrop.
Our editorial process
Every analysis starts with a reader question. We verify the evidence, show our method, and keep conclusions within what the data supports.
We check material facts and figures against authoritative releases, and re-verify time-sensitive information before publication.
Source data, Metro Analytics calculations, and editorial interpretation are clearly separated.
We make the limits of the evidence clear and avoid claims that the data cannot support.
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