Fixer Uppers Make Cities Great—At a Price

There’s something picturesque about a city of old homes. Charming 1950s bungalows in Los Angeles, 20th-century brownstones in Brooklyn, or a success story from Cheap Old Houses in Orange, Massachusetts—a small town where a $98K house was transformed into a bed and breakfast—are what make cities great. These homeowners preserve unique vernacular architecture, demonstrating a devotion to repair and care for their houses and their communities at large. 

Yet as housing construction has slowed over the past decades, older homes have dominated not just the real estate market but the housing stock entirely: "Improving America’s Housing," a new report by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies released last week, highlights that the average American house is now more than four decades old—by far, the most "senior" our housing stock has ever been. An aspirational vision of vintage living comes to a screeching halt when you remember just how much time, energy, and cash has been infused into these properties to modernize them—or even to keep them standing. As climate change threatens Americans from coast to coast, and the cost of housing becomes more burdensome to those with stagnant wages, the risks faced by homeowners and residents make the proposition of a "cheap old house" a lot less romantic, and a lot more precarious.

"Improving America’s Housing" is issued every two years and tracks significant changes in the home repair and renovation markets over time, utilizing data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s American Housing Survey conducted by the Census Bureau. But it’s not an industry trend report, says Sophia Wedeen, senior research associate at the JCHS; Rather, "Improving America’s Housing" speaks to the renovation market’s health, possible causes for fluctuations, and the effects that renovations can have on the housing market at large.

While the pandemic fueled a massive growth in renovations, the report reads, Wedeen says that one long-term force driving a continued interest in home improvement (and our aging houses) is a lack of new homes. "The Great Recession really slowed the pace of single family home construction. We haven't been adding as many new units since," she says. "And at the same time over the decades, with the introduction of much stronger building and energy codes, our homes are also lasting longer." It’s yielding a housing stock that has grown progressively older: In 2003, the mean American home was 31 years old; by 2023, houses had aged on average another 13 years according to the report. A plethora of old houses becomes an affordability issue, says Wedeen.

"We need to increase the [housing] supply because many households don't have the cash on hand to improve their housing conditions, to increase their home value by undertaking these activities that add value to their homes or just maintain existing conditions," she explains. As families inhabit increasingly older homes, the cost of performing repairs or upgrades only increases. Wedeen says that over the course of two decades, homes begin to require more frequent repairs as roofs, HVAC systems, and more begin to wear out. For those built before 1940, costs are especially high: The study shows that those who own houses built before 1940 spend 50 percent more on improvements and repairs than those who own homes built after 2010.

For those looking to buy their first home, this means that a less-expensive price tag on an older home could be enticing, but it doesn’t include the costs of doing necessary repairs or updates."Across the board, homeowners living in older homes spend much more than homeowners living in newer homes," says Wedeen. "Recent homebuyers consistently outspend homeowners who hadn’t bought recently by more than a third."

Not only does the study show that lower income households spend less on renovations and repairs, but they spend a higher proportion of their total income on these projects in comparison to higher earners—16 percent versus four percent, respectively. The study also emphasizes that lower income households are particularly vulnerable to the problems of older homes, especially those projects that can affect basic livability. In 2023, more than three percent of homeowners lived in "moderately or severely inadequate homes"—defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to describe homes that lack basic infrastructure like hot water, heating or cooling systems, or other major deficiencies. The study notes that, among homes built before 1940, nearly seven percent are considered "inadequate"; homeowners with lower incomes, as well as Black and Hispanic homeowners, are the most likely to live in them.

All of these issues are exacerbated by the climate crisis, which is expected to hit lower income families hardest. Not only are Giving Up on Homeowners Insurance? You’re Not Alone beyond the means of many, disaster repair expenditures have grown since 2017 ($23 billion was spent on such fixes between 2021 and 2023)—repairs that may also be burdensome for lower income people. "Given that housing quality, and I should say poor housing quality, is linked to so many other health issues, financial instability, and housing instability, it has all of these spillover effects," says Wedeen. "This is a critical issue that needs more attention in the policy space, and certainly should be considered by people who are concerned with housing affordability."

What’s required is a full commitment at federal and state levels to provide financial support for those most vulnerable to the problems of our aging housing stock. We might love how older homes appear after repairs and replacements, where the love and care is plain to see. But what’s hidden are the financial realities—the high prices paid from even the smallest earnings that don’t only benefit homeowners themselves, but contribute to entire neighborhoods. 

Top photo of downtown Cincinnati by Pgiam via Getty Images.

Related reading:

Giving Up on Homeowners Insurance? You’re Not Alone

Who Is Optimistic About Buying a Home? Not Younger Americans