Habitat for Humanity's new global research report finds three in four people are cutting back on essentials to afford housing

A Habitat for Humanity survey of 30,758 people across 22 countries found 75% cut at least one expense in the past year to afford housing; 33% spent less on food, 32% drew on savings and 13% delayed or avoided medical care. Nearly half (48%) said one unexpected problem could threaten their ability to stay housed, while 56% described their country’s housing system as broken or not working. The findings also highlight wider strains: 56% said housing costs make starting a family difficult, and 30% expect extreme weather to make their area harder to live in over the next three years.

Analysis

Investment signal is weak near term: this is broad, commissioned opinion research, not a measure of rent collections, mortgage delinquencies, housing starts, or consumer spending. Its useful implication is a second-order squeeze: housing absorbs cash that would otherwise support discretionary retail and healthcare use, while delaying household formation can weigh on incremental housing demand over time. The pressure is not uniformly bearish for housing: constrained ownership can sustain rental demand, but renters’ limited buffers raise sensitivity to job losses and rent increases, increasing downside risk to collections where affordability is already stretched.

Over 1–3 months, watch for corroboration in U.S. rent growth, multifamily delinquencies, consumer credit, retailer commentary, and housing affordability measures; without it, the report is unlikely to be a durable catalyst. Over 6–18 months, supply-enabling policy or public financing could benefit entry-level builders and construction activity, while climate exposure may raise insurance and repair costs and widen the gap between resilient and vulnerable housing stock. The contrarian point: severe affordability does not automatically mean falling home prices—limited supply and rental substitution can support both rents and prices even as household welfare deteriorates. The survey’s global averages should not be applied directly to U.S. issuers.

Key Decisions for Investors

• No trade on the report alone. Treat it as a watch item; require confirmation from U.S. rent collections, delinquencies, consumer credit, or earnings commentary before changing housing or consumer exposure.
• Keep a relative-value watch on entry-level homebuilders versus higher-priced builders: a policy or financing catalyst that expands affordable supply could favor the former. Do not initiate until permitting, order trends, and buyer incentives confirm demand; thesis weakens if affordability improves mainly through mortgage-rate declines without a supply response.
• Monitor discretionary retailers and healthcare providers serving lower-income households for evidence of housing-cost crowd-out. Consider a selective underweight only if company disclosures or spending data show weaker volumes or rising bad debt; food spending and medical-care deferral in this survey are not company-level forecasts.
• Track multifamily operators for the balance between rental demand and payment capacity. Rising delinquencies, concessions, or weaker collections would falsify the view that renter demand offsets affordability stress; improving collections alongside constrained ownership would support it.