ECONOMY

Recession Gives Little Aid to Home Buyers: The economic slump has done little to make housing more affordable for cash-strapped first-time home buyers, according to a Harvard University study. Although last year’s recession brought housing prices down, the study by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that only a fraction of first-time buyers qualified for a 30-year mortgage. Economic recovery, rather than ushering in an improvement, could further limit housing opportunities for low-to-moderate income households by forcing costs higher, the report said.