U.S. homelessness increases for second straight year

The number of homeless people in the United States has risen, though slightly, for the second consecutive year in 2018, data released Monday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) showed.

The HUD said in its 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress that "552,830 persons experienced homelessness on a single night in 2018, an increase of 0.3 percent since last year." It added that homelessness by veterans fell 5.4 percent year-over-year and declined 2.7 percent annually for families with children.

Specifically, the number of homeless people living in shelters was 358,363, a decrease from the 2017 figure of 360,867 and continuing a downward trend since 2015. For the unsheltered, the number increased to 194,467 from 190,129 in the previous year and has been on the rise since 2016.

The report attributed the rise of homelessness to two primary factors: a 2.3 percent increase of unsheltered homelessness, and the nearly 4,000 persons staying in emergency shelters due to hurricanes, wildfires, storms and other disasters.

"Our state and local partners are increasingly focused on finding lasting solutions to homelessness even as they struggle against the headwinds of rising rents," said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. "Much progress is being made and much work remains to be done but I have great hope that communities all across our nation are intent on preventing and ending homelessness."

Meanwhile, Matthew Doherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), said that his agency acknowledged that "a lack of housing that people can afford is the fundamental obstacle to making further progress in many communities."

Because of customers' hesitation in buying homes, homebuilder sentiment, a parameter gauging the willingness for building new residential houses, has declined to a three-year low, according to a report by CNBC citing the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

The index dropped four points in December to 56, the lowest reading since May 2015 and well below the 74 level in December 2017. "We are hearing from builders that consumer demand exists, but that customers are hesitating to make a purchase because of rising home costs," CNBC quoted NAHB Chairman Randy Noel as saying.

Rents in Los Angeles have increased 35 percent since 2012, the New York rents have grown 20 percent, and in Seattle, up 64 percent, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Reis Inc., which provides commercial real-estate data and analytics.

Consequently, according to the WSJ report, overall homelessness in New York increased 2.8 percent this year, and the number of homeless in Seattle and surrounding the adjacent King County rose 4 percent this year.

In Los Angeles, however, homelessness fell 4.7 percent for the first time after a four-year rising streak.

Barbara Poppe, who was the USICH's executive director during the administration of former President Barrack Obama, told the WSJ that a lack of affordable rental homes has underpinned homelessness since the mid-1980s and has become "a critical shortage" affecting "every jurisdiction across the country."