Research and News Roundup: February 2026

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The Research and News Roundup is a monthly blog series that features a curated list of recent news and research related to housing instability, homelessness, and affordable housing. Together, these topics provide insights about the full housing continuum and equip community stakeholders with information about emergent research, promising practices, and innovative solutions related to housing and homelessness.

This blog highlights recent research and emerging practices that examine how medical debt contributes to housing instability, how coordinated reentry planning can prevent homelessness after incarceration, and how local rent dynamics shape affordable housing strategy.

HOUSING INSTABILITY

Housing Instability Following Medical Debt Exposure Among US Adults

In January 2026, Moon and colleagues published Housing Instability Following Medical Debt Exposure Among US Adults. The study uses data from the Cumulative Life Stressors Impact on Mental Health and Well Being (CLIMB) Study, a nationally representative, longitudinal panel survey of adults in the United States. The survey was conducted annually from 2023 to 2025 and examined whether carrying medical debt increases the risk of experiencing housing instability. Medical debt was measured in 2024, and housing instability outcomes were assessed in 2025, including difficulty paying rent or mortgage, eviction, foreclosure, or loss of housing.

Key findings include:

• 16.4% of adults reported medical debt in 2024.
• 9% experienced housing instability in 2025.
• 23.5% of adults with medical debt experienced housing instability the following year, compared to 5.8% of those without medical debt.

After accounting for income, savings, prior financial hardship, housing history, and demographic differences, adults with medical debt were about twice as likely to experience housing instability the following year.

By tracking people over time, the study makes clear that medical debt isn’t just a temporary financial setback; it functions as a structural risk factor for housing instability. These findings show how high health care costs can directly affect a household’s ability to pay rent or a mortgage. These findings highlight how health care costs can ripple beyond medical settings and destabilize housing, underscoring the need for policies and programming that prevents or mitigates medical financial hardship as part of broader housing stability efforts.

HOMELESSNESS

How Colorado is Creating Housing Pathways After Prison

In partnership with the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC), the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab helped develop a system to identify people at risk of homelessness upon release and connect them to housing resources before they leave prison. In Colorado, nearly 1 in 5 people leaving prison experiences homelessness in their first-year post-incarceration, increasing the risk of recidivism.

Recognizing that stable housing is foundational to successful reentry, Colorado adopted a more coordinated homeless prevention strategy built around a three-step approach:

• Identify people at risk of homelessness before release using a standardized Housing Stability Assessment (now adopted across 16 facilities).
• Map available housing resources through a centralized Housing Resource Inventory to better match individuals to appropriate options.
• Streamline access to supportive housing by creating direct referral pathways to state-funded permanent supportive housing for individuals with the highest needs.

These steps moved Colorado from ad hoc referrals toward a more coordinated system that proactively identifies risk, aligns resources, and improves access to stable housing. The model demonstrates how corrections agencies can integrate housing stability into broader public safety and reentry efforts.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Matrix Affordable Housing Report

In September, the Yardi Matrix released the National Affordable Housing Report. The report analyzes how market-rate rents compare to fully affordable housing rents across major metropolitan areas in the United States. Using data from more than 120,000 multifamily properties nationwide, the report utilizes a competitiveness index that measures when market-rate units are priced close enough to income-restricted units to compete for the same households.

Nationally, the average market-rate rent is $1,754, compared to $1,337 for fully affordable units. However, that gap varies widely by metro and by submarket.

Key findings include:

• One-third of major metros are highly competitive, meaning at least half of market-rate units are priced close enough to affordable units that they can compete for the same renters.
• Lower-rent, high-growth Sun Belt markets tend to have a greater share of market-rate units priced close enough to affordable housing to compete for the same renters.
• Affordable properties tend to have the highest occupancy rates in metros where market-rate rents are well above affordable levels and not competing for the same renters.

Rent patterns can differ significantly across neighborhoods within the same metro, making careful, neighborhood-level planning essential. Charlotte is identified as a market where many market-rate units are priced close enough to affordable housing to compete for the same renters. This increases competition between market-rate and affordable properties for households at similar income levels, meaning leasing activity and tenant demand for affordable units may be more sensitive to rent trends and new construction. However, this dynamic primarily affects moderate-income households and does not resolve the shortage of deeply affordable housing for the lowest-income renters. Rising development and financing costs mean each public dollar produces fewer affordable units, increasing the importance of strategically locating projects in areas with sustained demand and limited direct rent competition.