Affordable housing is one of America’s top economic concerns heading into the election.
Detailed below is what Harris and Trump have proposed to address these worries.
This is the third in a five-part series about the impacts either a Trump or a Harris presidency could have on US consumers.
Election Day is around the corner, and some Americans are already casting their ballots in early voting. For many, affordable housing is a top concern.
In the third of Business Insider’s five-part series for the final stretch before the election, we’re looking at the ways each candidate and their associated policies would influence the price of housing. (Read part one, about investments, and part two, about costs.)
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have both pledged to address high prices by boosting the supply of homes. They’ve also floated plans to increase affordable housing, while offering different viewpoints on home construction in rural and urban areas.
Detailed below are four elements of the housing-price equation and what both the Harris and the Trump camps have either proposed or already done.
Harris has said she would work with the private sector and homebuilders to construct 3 million more homes by the end of her first term. She also plans to create a $40 billion federal innovation fund that would encourage local governments to build housing.
This is in response to a US housing shortage. The US was short about 4.5 million homes in 2022, a recent Zillow report said. And that same year, the number of US families increased by 1.8 million, but just 1.4 million housing units were built, it added.
The Democratic candidate also said she planned to expand the low-income-housing tax credit, which incentivizes the rehabilitation or building of housing targeted at lower-income households.
“Harris is trying to increase the supply of townhomes, duplexes, and condos so that people can have an easier step onto the housing ladder than what they currently have,” Daryl Fairweather, the chief economist at the real-estate firm Redfin, told BI.
Trump has talked a little bit about cutting red tape, referring to building permits and zoning laws that prevent new housing developments, Fairweather added, but he hasn’t provided details. He also said he would designate more federal land for housing.
Some experts have concerns that Trump’s high-tariff proposals on materials such as steel would make it harder to build housing. A report published in May from the nonpartisan think tank Peterson Institute for International Economics said they would likely make construction more expensive. High construction costs have been a major factor in the US’s underbuilding of homes.
On the campaign trail, the former president has remarked that the housing supply would improve if millions of people were deported from the country. Builders have argued that such an effort would drive up costs, as immigrant labor makes up a vital part of the construction industry.
Harris has proposed offering up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers who have paid their rent on time for at least two years.
Harris has also said she would offer tax incentives to homebuilders who prioritize “starter homes.” Experts have said Harris’ down-payment-assistance plan would boost overall home prices because it would increase demand for mortgages without solving supply issues.
Though Trump has said that he would offer tax incentives to first-time homebuyers, his campaign has not released details about the amount of aid.
As president, Trump proposed major cuts to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s budget, including slashing housing assistance and community-development aid.
“Qualifying income for a household to be able to afford the typical price of a home right now is six figures,” Jessica Lautz, the deputy chief economist and vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors, said. “That can be really impossible to imagine for someone who is a schoolteacher.”
In dense urban areas, Harris hopes her plan would usher in new construction by removing some zoning restrictions that prevent multifamily townhomes, condos, and duplexes from being built.
In recent weeks, Harris has emphasized her desire to expand housing in rural America. In a memo released in September, she said her plan would include $7.2 billion in infrastructure investments and boost economic growth.
While in the White House, Trump opposed the construction of high-density housing in single-family-zoned areas, saying that he would “save” the suburbs from the Democratic Party. It’s unclear whether Trump still wants to pursue similar policies.
While in office in 2017, Trump proposed a budget for the 2018 fiscal year that would have significantly cut rural-housing subsidies. The bulk of these proposals never came to fruition.
Harris has said she would take action against “corporate landlords” and call on Congress to remove tax benefits from investors who acquire 50 or more single-family rental homes. Her planned investment in a federal innovation fund would also incentivize cities to build more rental options.
This is in response to nearly half of America’s renters in 2023 being considered “cost-burdened,” meaning at least 30% of their income goes to housing, according to data from US Census Bureau. In some cities, higher rents are also outpacing wages.
While Trump has called for the construction of more housing — which would include rental units and homes — he has not provided details about how his plan would affect renters. While in office, Trump implemented a temporary eviction moratorium to keep Americans housed during the pandemic.
Correction: October 30, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misattributed the year America’s renters were cost-burdened. It was 2023, not 2024.
