When the conversation turns to the nation’s affordable housing crisis, the talk is usually about ever-higher house prices and the cost of regulations. Rarely does the discussion mention parking. But it should, says Brian O’Looney, author of the new book, “Increments of Neighborhood.”

O’Looney says parking requirements drive up construction costs, “turning cities into storage areas” for our vehicles and keeping home prices “prohibitively high” for consumers. They add costs, not just terms of the actual parking, but also in the opportunity cost lost when parking displaces potential residential development, he told me in an email.

The author says two-thirds of suburban land in commercial and retail areas is dedicated to parking. And since retail parking is designed for peak loads, lots run at only 45% to 50% capacity for most of the year.

As O’Looney sees it, parking rules are “often more of a pseudoscience, with little to no statistical basis and more a political calculation.” He says changing parking requirements can increase commercial land values by 30% and lower development costs by 25% -- or up to 30% in urban areas.

Whether or not homeowners are thinking about putting their places on the market, most of us wonder what our houses are worth. But we’re just as curious about what our neighbors’ homes would bring -- particularly when the “For Sale” sign comes down and the “Sold” sign goes up.

Now real estate agents are being offered a new tool that gives their clients a map showing recently sold houses in their areas, complete with the final sales price. You’ll have to connect with an agent who has the program, but most should welcome an inquiry because you could be their next client.

The “Recently Sold” map is being offered by the Delta Media Group as part of its automated valuation page. It lists up to 10 sold listings within a 1.5-mile radius from the user’s address. Delta’s Michael Minard thinks it could go a long way toward solving real estate’s No. 1 challenge: the lack of inventory.

“Brokerages are discovering that showing local homeowners the real final sales price -- not just the asking price -- can help motivate some owners to become sellers,” Minard says.

Sales of vacation properties are soaring, according to the National Association of Realtors. But if buyers are intending to cover their costs by renting out their holiday digs, they could be in for a rude surprise -- at least until the pandemic runs its course.

A report from Stock Apps, a financial education website, says the vacation rental market has taken an “enormous financial hit.” Worldwide, holiday rentals will be off by $35 billion this year, which is a drop of 42% from 2019, it says.

Individual owners and small property management companies aren’t the only ones taking it on the chin. Outfits like Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia saw a 90% plunge in reservations as people stayed home, the company says. “The initial wave of COVID-19 caused massive cancellations of stays, with even the market’s biggest players witnessing colossal reservation drops,” said the report.

Meanwhile, NAR says sales of houses intended as vacation getaways totaled 109,100 in the third quarter, a 44% jump from the same period last year. In comparison, the sale of primary residences rose just 13% over the same period.

Not only were more second homes sold in the July-to-September period, they sold faster when compared to historical norms. Nearly 60% sold within one month. A year ago, only 25% sold that quickly. (The norm is about 30%, says NAR economist Gay Cororaton.)

As usual, the vast majority of holiday houses were snapped up by Americans. But because of virus-imposed travel bans, the number of foreign buyers fell from 3% to less than 1%. Of those who did buy here, 13% came from Europe and 12% from were China.

Borrowers who want to refinance their mortgages to take advantage of record-low interest rates should not fear being turned down by a lender. According to a survey by LendingTree, 86% of all refi applications are approved.

Of course, those whose houses have appreciated in value and have higher credit scores are more likely to be approved. But there are always exceptions and other factors that are considered, says Tendayi Kapfidze, the mortgage search engine’s chief economist.

In the third quarter, refinances accounted for the majority of home loans, according to Attom Data Solutions. Lenders issued 1,955,668 residential refinance mortgages during the period, up 15.7% from the second quarter and 84.5% from the same period last year.

Overall, lenders were busier than ever. “The housing market (is) still operating as if the recession brought on by the pandemic didn’t exist,” says Todd Teta, Attom’s chief product officer. “Buyers and owners, lured by low mortgage rates, kept lining up for loans at levels not seen in more than a decade.”

People shopping for new, more spacious single-family houses where they can hunker down during the pandemic may be overlooking places that meet most, if not all, of their needs: town houses and condominiums.

The newest breed of town houses and apartments check all the boxes for riding out the virus -- and beyond. Indeed, many seem to be designed especially for the pandemic, but often at a more affordable price and in a more walkable location than detached houses in the far-out suburbs.

Yes, these attached homes normally are somewhat smaller than their stand-alone brethren. But today’s plans often include dedicated home offices, separate spaces for home-schooling, and dual master suites -- handy for extended families, or if someone must be quarantined.

Some have kitchens with expansive islands for cooking, crafting and gathering, and walk-in pantries for stocking up on essentials. Some even come with finished basements for whatever the need may be -- lounges, bonus rooms or play areas for the little ones -- and private, fenced-in backyards for safe outdoor activities.

According to the Census Bureau, town house construction has slowed a bit as demand has shifted to more suburban and exurban locations, where land tends to be less expensive. Over the last four quarters, single-family attached dwellings accounted for 106,000 construction starts, which is 6% fewer than in the previous four quarters.

Still, Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders, believes the town house share of the market will trend higher in the coming years. Given the growing number of buyers looking for medium-density neighborhoods, such as urban villages with walkable environments and other amenities (as opposed to high-density spots that depend on mass transit and elevators), Dietz says the “long-run prospects” for town houses “remain positive.”

Attached single-family houses have long been touted as great alternatives to more expensive detached dwellings, especially for first-time buyers moving out of apartments or their parents’ basements. But now, in their effort to compete with detached houses in the age of COVID-19, some town house builders are designing bigger and better than ever.

They may or may not be any less expensive, but they tend to be closer to city centers than detached homes in the way-out-there suburban fringes. Cases in point: Two projects by Chicago-based Lexington Homes -- one in Arlington Heights in the city’s northwestern suburbs and the other in Warrenville, almost due west. Both have all the functionality and style of detached houses -- and at different price points.

They offer “open concept” floor plans, spacious kitchens with large islands, and master baths with seats in the showers and separate water closets. They have finished lower levels, unfinished basements, private balconies and small, yet functional, backyards. They also have multiple home office/workspaces, which today’s buyers say they want. And some layouts offer dens and computer niches at the top of the staircase landing, supplying families the options they may need for remote learning and working.

Neither project is considered close-in, one longtime local told me, but Arlington Heights is still in Cook County, same as Chicago. The Lexington Heritage property there features two collections: one with two- and three-bedroom, two-story models, each with two-car garages and up to 3 1/2 baths. This grouping ranges in size from 1,650 to 1,950 square feet. Homes in the other series contain three-level units with two or three bedrooms, attached garages and up to 3 1/2 baths, and run from 1,813 to 1,976 square feet.

Though still in the nine-county Chicago metro region, Warrenville is “pretty far out” at the western end of DuPage County, my resident geographer said. But the units there measure almost 2,000 square feet, with either front- or rear-loading garages. And starting at just under $300,000, prices there are much less than in Arlington Heights, where the starting price is $438,000. (As a reference, the median resale price in Chicagoland in July was $277,000.)

No longer a basic two-bedroom, two-bath cube, some condominiums are evolving, too. Some now even offer multiple floors.

Let’s look again at Chicago, where the CA6 West Loop project by the Belgravia Group offers four-bedroom duplexes. These two-story units feature dedicated office spaces, flex rooms to accommodate multiple uses, and outsized 700-square-foot private terraces that can hold a trampoline or an inflatable pool.

These units range in size from 3,100 to 3,157 square feet with four bedrooms, 3.5 baths and a backyard. But starting at $1.65 million, the prices here are not for the typical buyer.

Prices are somewhat more modest at 7180 Optima Kierland, a new 12-story tower in Scottsdale, Arizona: The tower’s one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, as well as penthouses, start at $500,000 and run up to more than $2 million. The median resale price in the Phoenix area was $315,000 in July.

Also starting at $500,000, the units at the Venue condo in Old Town Alexandria across the Potomac from Washington, D.C., range up to 2,300 square feet with one to three bedrooms, plus a den.

When it comes to credit scores, low-income folks have far less knowledge, according to the results of a recent quiz developed by the Consumer Federation of America and VantageScore. But even high-income respondents didn’t have all the answers.

These days, everyone from your local utility to your cellphone carrier bases decisions on credit scores, at least in part. But they are particularly key for mortgage lenders.

The difference between a high score and a low one can mean the difference between being approved or rejected for financing. And even if you do pass muster, borrowers with lower scores will usually pay more than those with higher ones.

Says the CFA’s Steve Brobeck, “A lack of knowledge could be costly.”

Test your understanding by taking this shortened version of the CFA-VS quiz. The answers follow.

QUESTIONS

1. Which of the following does a credit score mainly indicate? A. Knowledge of consumer credit. B. Attitude toward consumer credit. C. Amount of consumer debt. D. Risk of not repaying the loan. E. Financial resources to pay back the loan.

2. Which of these groupings contains the three factors that are all used to calculate a credit score? A. A person’s age, missed loan payments and marital status. B. Missed loan payments, high balances on credit cards and ethnic origin. C. Marital status, high balances and personal bankruptcy. D. A person’s age, high balances and ethnic origin. E. Missed loan payments, high balances and bankruptcy.

3. Who collects the information on which credit scores are most frequently based? A. FICO and VantageScore Solutions. B. Three main credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. C. Individual lenders. D. The federal government. E. All of the above.

4. Does each consumer have just one credit score? A. Yes. B. No.

5. Which of the following is usually a good generic credit score? A. 400. B. 500. C. 600. D. 700.

6. When are lenders required to inform borrowers of the score used in their decisions? A. After a consumer applies for a mortgage. B. On all consumer loans, when you don’t receive the best terms and rates. C. Whenever you are turned down. D. All of these. E. None of these.

7. Which of the following helps raise a low score or maintain a high one? A. Make all loan payments on time. B. Keep credit card balances under 25% of the credit limit. C. Avoid opening several credit card accounts at the same time. D. All of these. E. None of these.

8. When will multiple inquiries about obtaining a loan lower your FICO or VantageScore credit score? A. Each time you make an inquiry. B. Only when you make at least five. C. Never, if the inquiries occur during a one- to two-week window. D. Never.

9. How important is it to check the accuracy of your credit reports? A. Very. B. Somewhat. C. Not very.

10. When you cannot resolve a complaint about your credit report or score, which of these federal agencies is best suited to help you? A. Federal Reserve Board. B. Federal Trade Commission. C. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. D. Department of Justice.

ANSWERS

1. D. Credit scores predict the probability that you will pay back a loan by analyzing your history of borrowing money and paying your bills, as summarized in your credit report. While factors such as savings and income may influence repayment risk, the models that produce scores only consider credit report contents.

2. E. Each of these three factors is closely related to the risk of not repaying a loan, whereas age, ethnicity and marital status are not.

3. B. Three major credit agencies collect the information and make it available in credit reports. FICO and VantageScore Solutions, among others, then use these reports to calculate scores.

4. B. Consumers have many credit scores. There are the generic scores developed by the three national credit bureaus, as well as scores from individual lenders and scores specific to the mortgage industry.

5. D. The most common scoring scale range is 300-850. A score of 700 or more usually indicates a low credit risk. Scores below the mid-600s often indicate some degree of risk. Those with lower scores than that are much more likely to be denied credit or charged more.

6. D. Federal law requires disclosures in all of these scenarios.

7. D. These steps will help raise a low score, though it usually takes months to turn things around. Conversely, high scores can drop considerably -- and quickly -- if even one mortgage payment is missed.

8. C. Multiple inquiries during this period are usually treated as a single inquiry.

9. A. Credit reports sometimes contain inaccurate information. The three main bureaus are required by federal law to provide a free copy of your credit report once a year upon request: Visit annualcreditreport.com or call 877-322-8228.

10. C. The CFPB helps consumers resolve many types of complaints about credit reports and credit scores.