As millions struggle with home prices, housing becomes a top issue for voters: NPR

Melissa Williams says she did everything right. She has a college degree, a decent income in accounting and no debt.

Williams, who is 38, expected to be a homeowner now. But when she started looking at homes in 2022, she found she simply couldn't compete with the sudden influx of people moving to her part of rural North Carolina to work remotely.

“I called the day it came on the market,” she says, “and the agent said to me, 'Yes, I can show you that property. But just to be clear, there are already two cash offers on it.” ”

That same year is also when mortgage rates skyrocketed – and they remain stuck around 7%, adding hundreds of dollars to the average monthly house payment. So Williams gave up buying and resorted to renting, only to find that those costs had skyrocketed as well. “Now you can't even get a run-down trailer in a not-so-good area for less than $1,000 a month,” she says.

Williams says something needs to change, and she's frustrated she's not hearing more solutions from President Biden or former President Trump as the November election approaches.

Housing policy and financing are largely a local issue. But across the U.S., including in swing states, persistent record high costs have put economics at the forefrontproblem for many voters in a presidential campaign in which affordability in general is an important issue. Last month, housing came second only to inflation Gallup poll of Americans' financial concerns. In a Harvard poll among 18- to 29-year-olds this spring, housing ranked third overall, behind inflation and health care.

“This crisis is big,” said Shamus Roller, executive director of the National Housing Law Project. And while there is no silver bullet, he says “it's impossible to solve this without the federal government taking on a bigger role.”

Roller says housing costs now consume such a large portion of incomes that many people are having to cut back on things like food, medicine and saving for college or retirement. “And so people feel like housing costs are impacting all the other dreams they have for their lives,” he says.

Biden and Trump offer vastly different plans on housing

Biden and Trump don't talk much about housing, even though it is the main driver of inflation. But Biden focused on housing during his visit Vegas in March. He touted the billions of dollars in rental assistance his administration has provided during the pandemic, and he said expanded stimulus and federal funding have contributed to record new construction.

“The bottom line is we can lower housing costs for good by building, building, building,” Biden told the crowd.

Housing experts agree that the massive housing shortage that has been going on for decades is driving up prices and is a major reason for record-high homelessness rates.

Nevada has one of the worst in the country shortages of affordable housing, and even a significant portion of the state's middle-income families are costs taxed.

When the pandemic hit, “many families brought in their parents or their sisters, siblings and their children to cut costs, help with care, and probably all contribute to household expenses,” says Rae Lathrop. She runs the Desert Spring Community Resource Center, which started as a food bank during COVID.

Even some people who want to move and can paying the monthly rent are stuck, Lathrop says. That's because landlords may require a high credit score, an income that is three times the rent, and an application fee for each adult tenant that can run into hundreds of dollars.

Biden has had regular meetings rights of tenants Groups that want more guarantees against evictions and exorbitant rent increases. This year, he proposed tax breaks to help first-time homebuyers and middle-income homeowners looking to upgrade. However, some real estate experts worry that such incentives could push prices up even further.

Biden has also called on Congress to pass expanded tax credits and other measures to build and renovate 2 million affordable homes. That's an idea Trump has fought hard against.

“The woke left is waging an all-out war on the suburbs, and their Marxist crusade is coming for your neighborhood, your tax dollars, your public safety and your home,” Trump said in one of many short videos set out his agenda.

Trump, who started his career in real estate, opposes relaxing zoning laws to allow more multifamily apartments; he says they lower property values. Instead, he wants that open up some federal land for housing. Nevada's Republican governor has asked for that, and so has the Biden administration said it will supportsuch a move in Nevada.

Trump also wants to “stop the unsustainable invasion of illegal aliens that is driving up housing costs, lowering taxes for American families, [and] eliminate costly regulations,” campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

But when it comes to affordable housing programs, the Trump administration has proposed major cuts.

“They tried to cut housing vouchers or eliminate the housing trust fund program, cut public housing programs, all of which would worsen the housing and homelessness crisis in our country,” said Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Coalition for Low-Income Housing .

When the dream of home ownership continues to fade

After her frustrating journey to buy and then rent, Melissa Williams in North Carolina says she has become “kind of homeless.” She spent nine months couch surfing. Eventually, she found a foreclosed house that her father liked and bought. She feels lucky that she can rent it from him at a price lower than the market price. But her future remains uncertain because it is the same place where he plans to retire in a few years.

“People my age, we all saw our families, our parents and what they had, and we want to be able to give that to our children,” she says. “And we're not going to succeed.”

Williams is still saving to buy a house. But with interest rates stubbornly high and prices still rising, “it feels like the goalpost keeps moving,” she says. “So it's like every year that I don't buy, I'm falling further and further behind.”