Reports

This section highlights standalone reports and applied research products released by IHS.

Reports   March 5, 2024

Data Highlighting the ETOD Implications of Vacant Land Near Transit

As part of a recent collaborative project to understand the implications of vacant land near transit, IHS developed an in-depth analysis of City- and privately-owned vacant land near CTA train stations across Chicago. This report highlights data and analysis developed as part of this work.

Reports   November 28, 2023

Transfer on Death Instruments and Their Role in Estate Planning in Cook County

This data brief examines the role that transfer on death Instruments play in facilitating the transfer of real estate to heirs and provides data on the patterns of TODIs filed on homes with an active senior exemption in neighborhoods across Cook County.

Reports   May 26, 2023

Assessing Obstacles to Aging in Place for Chicago's Older Homeowners

This research brief discusses some of the key issues that emerged from these discussions and includes new data analysis highlighting the characteristics and spatial patterns of properties owned by older adults in Chicago.

Reports   March 2, 2023

Recent Homebuying Patterns for 2 to 4 Unit Properties

This analysis documents the importance that 2 to 4 unit buildings play in homebuying for Chicago’s borrowers and neighborhoods of color and helps connect policy priorities around preserving 2 to 4s with those that advance homeownership and wealth-building for moderate- and middle-income Black and Latino households.

Reports   December 14, 2021

Housing Needs and Economic Conditions of Cook County’s Older Adults, 2021

The development of impactful policy to address the unique housing needs of Cook County’s older adults requires local and timely data on changing conditions, informed by the data needs of issue-area stakeholders. This analysis leverages the local knowledge of roughly 20 Chicago-area organizations working on older adult housing issues to create a practitioner-focused resource on key demographic and socioeconomic conditions related to older-adult housing demand and economic and housing insecurity in Cook County.

Reports   September 22, 2021

The Preservation Lab Releases New Resources to Support NOAH Preservation Strategies

Chicago’s diverse stock of naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH) faces a variety of challenges. A new report and resource clearinghouse from The Preservation Lab, an initiative co-led by the Institute for Housing Studies and The Preservation Compact, documents the risks and pressures facing NOAH buildings, owners, and tenants in different market contexts and provides resources and guiding principles to assist community stakeholders in developing tailored NOAH preservation strategies.

Reports   September 20, 2021

Data and Research to Facilitate Equitable Homeownership in Chicago

Facilitated by the Chicago Community Trust’s Protecting and Advancing Equitable Homeownership initiative, the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University (IHS) partnered with the Urban Institute to develop a data resource for Chicago practitioners, policymakers, and advocates working to reduce the racial homeownership gap. Read more about Chicago Housing Overview: Preserving Affordability and Expanding Accessibility here.

Reports   May 13, 2021

Patterns of Lost 2 to 4 Unit Buildings in Chicago

This analysis uses a unique data set to document the loss of the 2 to 4 stock in Chicago neighborhoods in an effort to understand the different ways that market forces put pressure on this key segment of the city’s housing market.

Reports   May 13, 2021

Characteristics of the 2 to 4 Stock in Chicago Neighborhoods

To inform ongoing policy conversations related to the preservation of 2 to 4 buildings in Chicago neighborhoods, this report updates key contextual data on the stock of 2 to 4s in Chicago, and includes new data on the characteristics of the stock, foreclosure impacts, and the importance of 2 to 4s in communities of color and for households of color.

Reports   October 7, 2020

The Preservation Lab: A Platform to Engage Stakeholders around Today's Affordable Housing Challenges

The Preservation Lab is an initiative co-directed by the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University (IHS) and The Preservation Compact that aims to investigate complex and timely affordable housing topics and inform affordable housing policy through applied research and stakeholder engagement.