by Keith Wiley

The number of rural loan applications fell last year because of a big decline in refinancing. But loan applications for home purchases grew by nearly 7 percent, even higher than the national increase. Also on the rise in rural areas were higher-interest loans, which are especially common for manufactured housing purchases.

Read the Complete blog post at The Daily Yonder 

by Lance George

With the recent foreclosure crisis and the rise of housing affordability problems, concerns around substandard and dilapidated homes may have waned or been pushed in to the background. Indeed, long-term efforts to improve housing conditions have resulted in dramatic reductions in the most egregious housing deficiencies. In 1970, more than 3.5 million homes in the United States were without complete plumbing facilities. In 2013, the number of homes lacking adequate plumbing declined to roughly 570,000, or less than 1 percent of the nation’s housing stock. An estimated 70 percent of these “plumbing-inadequate” homes lack a functioning flush toilet.

Read the complete post at The Daily Yonder

Ensuring that veterans have access to safe, secure housing is critical, and President Obama and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have made a significant push to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2015. Data shows declines in the homeless veteran population across the country, including in Rural America. However, in rural areas where accurate homeless counts are more difficult, this data may not tell the whole story. Read HAC's latest post on the Rooflines blog to learn why.

 Photo: Stormi Greener

by Lance George and Leslie Strauss

“Rural America’s Silent Housing Crisis,” an article in The Atlantic magazine’s February edition, describes the overlooked plight of rural families who struggle to obtain quality housing they can afford. The article does not look specifically at the housing problems of farmworkers – a crisis that deserves attention because it is not only silent, but often invisible.

Because of the nature of their employment and working conditions, farmworkers’ housing options are often substantially different from the overall market in terms of cost and quality. Most farmworkers find housing through the private market. But rental housing is not as plentiful in rural places as it is in most cities. Additionally, landlords typically ask for a security deposit, a credit check, and a long-term commitment, requirements that often conflict with the unique conditions of the farm labor industry...

Read the full post on Harvesting Justice