Housing Is a Top Concern for Voters. Why Not for the Candidates?
Americans want more affordable housing. Politicians from both parties could offer better solutions.
Keep ’em coming.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Many factors affect the price of homes. But none is more crucial than simple supply and demand — the US is, by one estimate, some 2.5 million houses and apartments short of what’s needed. As housing costs become a live issue in the presidential campaign, any proposed policy should be judged on how likely it is to shrink that gap.
President Joe Biden’s administration has offered a few promising initiatives. For one, it has directed several departments — including the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and the Postal Service — to make underused land available for housing. It is encouraging state and local governments to do the same, especially for land near transit, estimated to be enough space for 1.9 million units. (These ideas have unfortunately been overshadowed by Biden’s hugely ill-advised plan to cap rent increases.)