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    Are You a European in a Housing Crunch? We Want to Hear From You.

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    To help us report on the housing crisis in Europe, we want to learn about the housing pressures you are dealing with, how they are affecting your community and how they are being solved.Nearly every European country is struggling with a housing crisis. A surge in home prices that started a decade ago has been accelerating as vacation rentals, real estate speculation and a shortage of home building have put the goal of affordable housing out of reach for many.Nearly 45 million people, or a tenth of European Union residents, spend more than 40 percent of their income on housing. Cities from Barcelona to Berlin are working to combat the problem, which has spread beyond urban areas. Throughout the year, I will be talking to residents, activists, developers and government officials in cities throughout Europe to explore why the crisis is so tough to beat, what solutions are being tested and what people want to see done.I’ll read every response to this questionnaire and reach out to you if I’m interested in learning more. I won’t publish any part of your response without contacting you first. And I won’t share your contact information outside The New York Times newsroom or use it for any reason other than to get in touch with you. More

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      L.A. Fire Victims Move Away From Altadena and Pacific Palisades to Start Over

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      In the aftermath of the Los Angeles fires that destroyed thousands of homes and properties, many fire victims moved far away from Altadena and Pacific Palisades in a sudden diaspora that upended the two tight-knit communities in ways beyond the initial loss of property.Residents now living in rentals, with expenses that have ballooned, expressed frustration with school transfers, longer commutes to work and the overnight disappearance of yearslong relationships with their neighbors.Of those who had to move, more than half ended up in neighborhoods at least a half-hour’s drive away, according to more than 3,500 change of address records analyzed by The New York Times. A quarter left the Los Angeles metro area entirely, and most ended up living somewhere with higher population density than their original neighborhood. While the data doesn’t include every displaced person, the results provide a clearer picture of where the victims settled after several fires erupted amid high Santa Ana winds across Los Angeles in early January. More

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      Nelson DeMille’s House Is Listed for $5.5 Million on Long Island

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      A Nassau County listing is so grandiose in style and stature that it must be out of a Nelson DeMille novel.Fitting, as it was the famed author’s former home.Mr. DeMille, who died in September at 81, bought the 0.7-acre property in 2001 for $2.9 million. He tore the existing house down and replaced it with a 9,731-square-foot Tudor-style manse. It’s now for sale by his estate for $5.5 million.The author, who was raised in nearby Elmont, N.Y., always wanted a house on the Hill, a ritzy neighborhood in Garden City, and jumped at the opportunity to buy the property, said his son, the writer and director Alexander DeMille.Mr. DeMille, who grew up in Elmont, N.Y., always wanted a house on the Hill, a ritzy neighborhood in Garden City.Robert Wright for The New York TimesThe house, which took two years to build, features a mahogany staircase leading up from the double-height foyer.Tyler Sands/Sands Media House
      The home’s architecture was inspired by Nelson DeMille’s novels “The Gate House” and “The Gold Coast,” both set on Long Island’s North Shore. But it also reflects the medieval timber frame architecture the elder author admired in Germany and other European countries, Alexander DeMille said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      California Approves 17 Percent Rate Increase for State Farm

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      Homeowners reeling from the wildfires in January say that State Farm’s increased rates are unfair and unfounded.State Farm will be allowed to temporarily charge an extra 17 percent for homeowners’ insurance policies in California, after the state gave the company permission, in the wake of the catastrophic fires. The insurer will be allowed to charge the higher rate at least until a hearing later this year, the state announced on Tuesday.The insurance giant already received a 20 percent rate increase last year, a move that a consumer watchdog group, as well as homeowners struggling to be paid after their homes were destroyed in January in the Los Angeles fires, criticized as unfair and unfounded.State Farm requested the emergency rate increase in February, the month after fires ripped through the Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods of Los Angeles, razing over 16,000 homes and structures. The company — which insures one out of every five homes in California or roughly 1 million homeowner customers — had requested even more: a nearly 22 percent rate increase on homeowners’ policies, citing a “dire situation.”California, like other states hit by natural disasters, has faced threats from major insurers: Raise rates, or we leave the state, said Carmen Balber, the executive director of Consumer Watchdog, which led the effort to oppose the rate increase in hearings this spring.“The commissioner has shown a tendency to roll over in the face of insurer threats to leave,” Ms. Balber said. The increase “adds insult to injury” at a time when many homeowners insured by State Farm have reported delays or attempts by State Farm to lowball claims following the fires earlier this year, she added.In a statement, Ricardo Lara, the state’s insurance commissioner, presented the rate increase as a difficult compromise for consumers. “Let me be clear: We are in a statewide insurance crisis affecting millions of Californians,” he said. “Taking this on requires tough decisions.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Appraisal Trade Group Accused of Covering Up Sexual Harassment and Test Flaws

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      The Appraisal Institute faces concerns that one of its leaders has a history of harassing women and that it did not disclose that some certification exams were incorrectly scored. The organization that influences how much houses and commercial buildings are worth in the United States privately paid one woman $412,000 to settle a sexual harassment claim and fielded similar complaints from at least seven other women that have swirled within the group over the last decade, The New York Times has found.All the harassment accusations inside the Appraisal Institute are against one man — Craig Steinley, 64, a former president and the current vice president of the trade group, who denied the allegations.The Appraisal Institute, which produces the certification materials and fills the state boards that regulate the estimated 70,000 real estate appraisers working in all 50 states, did not respond directly to questions about the allegations. A spokesman said the group has policies that prohibit harassment, retaliation and discrimination. But The Times interviewed 12 women who said they have had uncomfortable interactions with Mr. Steinley, a South Dakota-based appraiser described by his colleagues as charismatic with a flirtatious manner. The women, several of whom asked for anonymity for fear of retaliation, said Mr. Steinley’s behavior often turned physical — an unwanted touch on the leg, a hug that lasted too long. Three women said Mr. Steinley groped their buttocks, according to interviews and a review of a letter sent from one woman’s lawyers to the Appraisal Institute.All the accusations inside the Appraisal Institute are against one man — Craig Steinley, 64, a former president and the current vice president of the trade group. He denies the allegations.via Craig SteinleyOne of the accusations was made public on Thursday, when Cindy Chance, the group’s former chief executive, sued the Chicago-based group for wrongful termination in Illinois state court. Ms. Chance, 59, who was fired last year, said Mr. Steinley groped her buttocks without her consent, made lewd comments about her body and referred to her as his “girlfriend,” according to her lawsuit. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Voters Approve Incorporation of SpaceX Hub as Starbase, Texas

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      A South Texas community, mostly made up of SpaceX employees, voted 212 to 6 in favor of establishing a new city called Starbase.Members of a South Texas community that has served as the hub of Elon Musk’s rocket launch company, SpaceX, voted on Saturday to formally establish a new city called Starbase, fulfilling one of Mr. Musk’s long-held dreams.All but six of the 218 people who voted supported incorporating the city of Starbase, according to Cameron County, which administered the vote.There were 283 eligible voters, said Remi Garza, the elections administrator for the county.The community, known to locals as Boca Chica, covers about 1.5 square miles on a spit of land that brushes up against the Mexican border.SpaceX broke ground in the area in 2014, and it has since become the company’s central hub and launch site, as well as home to hundreds of its employees.On his social media platform, X, Mr. Musk has referred to the area as Starbase more than a dozen times in the past four years.“My primary home is literally a ~$50k house in Boca Chica / Starbase that I rent from SpaceX,” Mr. Musk wrote in June 2021. “It’s kinda awesome though.”In December, people living around the company offices and launch site filed a petition to officially establish the city of Starbase, Texas. More

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      From One Forest to Another: A Homeless Sweep Changes Little

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      After federal officials began a sweep of a vast forest in Oregon, most of the people who had used the woods as a last refuge had left. But they didn’t go far.With nowhere else to go, many drove their aging R.V.s to a different forest just a few dozen miles away. Advocates for the homeless estimate that there had been 100 to 200 people living in the original encampment on the outskirts of Bend, Ore., a town that has been transformed by an influx of wealthy newcomers.The cost of housing is now out of reach for many in Bend. In recent years, the town has increased the number of beds in shelters, but has not been able to meet the demand. The chasm between rich and poor has widened so much that it even swallowed up a former mayor: He died homeless after being discovered with frostbite in a tent in a Walmart parking lot.Forest law enforcement officials have been deployed to clear the homeless encampment near Bend.On the day of the closure, many R.V.s got no farther than the blacktop just past the police cordon.“I honestly don’t know what to do,” said Andrew Tomlinson, 41, who had been living in the encampment. “I have nowhere to put our R.V. If we leave it, it will be towed, and everything we own is in there.” Mr. Tomlinson said he was unable to work after a heart attack four years ago. He has two stents in his heart and edema in his legs — the wounds have broken the skin, requiring him to apply daily bandages.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Rental Apartments Have Been Getting Smaller Over the Last Decade

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      The average size of new rental apartments has been getting smaller since 2015, but there are signs that the trend may have begun to reverse.If the living room in your apartment can’t fit a couch and a dining table, you’re not alone. Over the past decade, the average size of newly constructed rental apartments has shrunk by 22 square feet. The average size of a new rental unit is now a mere 908 square feet, according to a report from RentCafe.Researchers analyzed data on the size of new apartments in the 100 U.S. cities with the largest stock of rental buildings with at least 50 units. Newly built apartments were defined as those completed from 2015 through February 2025. Data was harvested from RentCafe’s parent company, Yardi, which surveys rental properties.A proliferation of studios and one-bedrooms is partly responsible for the downsizing. These units grew from 46 percent of what was built before 2015, to 53 percent in the years since.Driving the need for smaller apartments are an increasing number of young, professional singles and a related drop in marriage rates. With interest rates remaining stubbornly high, more of these singles are opting to rent rather than buy. Developers also have an incentive to build smaller units, which can boosts profits by leaving space for additional ones.Despite the decade-long downward trend in new apartment size, there’s been an uptick recently, with rentals gaining 17 square feet in the past two years. Even cities experiencing some of the worst housing shortages have seen notable gains.San Francisco, for one, had the second largest increase, with its average rental apartment growing by 59 square feet (about the size of a small patio) over the past decade. The New York borough of Queens wasn’t far behind, with the average rental growing by 39 square feet. New York’s most expensive boroughs, Manhattan and Brooklyn, also saw upticks.Still, in most major cities the average size of new rental apartments has fallen over the decade, including in Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Even Sun Belt metropolises such as Orlando and Wilmington, with traditionally large apartments, have seen an average reduction of 49 square feet.Shrinking ApartmentsThe average size of newly built rental apartments in the United States has been shrinking over the last decade, though there has been an uptick since 2023. More

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      Tell Us Your Wild New York City Roommate Stories

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      When the rent is high and the vacancy rates are low, sharing your space with others becomes a must.As summer arrives in New York City, so does the seasonal influx of interns and new graduates, eager to make their way in the metropolis of dreams. But with the city in the midst of a housing crisis — where the median rent recently hit a record high — where will young people on entry-level salaries live? Most likely: with each other. It’s roommate time.Having a New York City roommate (or several) is a rite of passage, and for some it is the only way to make the city affordable. For every New York City roommate situation, there is a wild New York City roommate story. Whether your roommate story happened 10 years ago or 10 days ago, we want to hear it.Did your roommate eat the cake you baked for your mother’s birthday? Leave dirty underwear in the bathroom? Perform the Heimlich maneuver and save your life? Become a famous actor? Break your favorite drinking glass? Disappear without paying rent? Tell us!We will read all of the responses to this questionnaire and reach out to you if we are interested in learning more about your story.We will not publish any part of your submission without contacting you first. We won’t share your contact information outside the Times newsroom or use it for any reason other than to get in touch with you.Tell Us Your Wild New York City Roommate Stories More