{"id":2340718,"date":"2024-09-13T13:05:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T17:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/harris-housing-plan-will-make-homes-even-less-affordable\/"},"modified":"2024-09-13T13:11:41","modified_gmt":"2024-09-13T17:11:41","slug":"harris-housing-plan-will-make-homes-even-less-affordable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/harris-housing-plan-will-make-homes-even-less-affordable\/","title":{"rendered":"Harris&#8217; Housing Plan Will Make Homes Even Less Affordable"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fharris-housing-plan-will-make-homes-even-less-affordable%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2340718&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Vice President Kamala Harris&#8217; housing plan, which aims to address affordability and supply issues, is critiqued for potentially exacerbating the very problems it seeks to solve. During a\u2063 recent debate, Harris proposed building\u200d three million new\u200c rental units and\u2064 homes, streamlining construction processes, and implementing penalties against companies that hoard homes. She also plans to provide up to $25,000 in down\u2062 payment assistance for first-time homebuyers. Critics argue that these measures may increase overall \u2064housing prices,\u200b making homeownership even less attainable for many Americans, particularly younger generations.<\/p>\n<p>Economic experts, such as EJ Antoni from the Heritage Foundation, suggest that the proposal mirrors past failures seen in government financial aid, where institutions raised costs knowing taxpayer support \u200dwould cover the difference. Moreover, there is\u2064 concern that assistance may not be limited to American citizens, \u200bpotentially\u200c impacting housing demand further.<\/p>\n<p>The Biden-Harris administration&#8217;s policies \u200chave \u2063already led to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mortgage-applications-fall-to-lowest-level-since-december-2019\/\" title=\"Mortgage Applications Fall to Lowest Level Since December 2019\">rising mortgage rates<\/a> and rental prices, with critics like Senator Tim Scott asserting\u2064 that these policies prioritize progressive goals over genuine relief for working families. Climate-related regulations and federal interest rate policies\u2064 have also been highlighted as contributing factors to the housing \u200bcrisis. the analysis suggests that Harris&#8217; plan may perpetuate the cycle of unaffordability rather than alleviating it.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Vice President Kamala Harris&rsquo; plan to make housing more affordable would in reality double down on policies that have caused skyrocketing home prices under the Biden administration.<\/p>\n<p>Harris took to the debate stage Tuesday night touting her &ldquo;plan&rdquo; to solve the housing shortage. Her <a href=\"https:\/\/kamalaharris.com\/issues\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">proposal<\/a>, however brief, hits on some key points that have the potential to drive up housing prices exponentially:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Vice President Harris has put forward a comprehensive plan to build three million more rental units and homes that are affordable to end the national housing supply crisis in her first term. And she will cut red tape to make sure we build more housing faster and penalize firms that hoard available homes to drive up prices for local homebuyers.&nbsp;Vice President Harris knows rent is too high and will sign legislation to outlaw new forms of price fixing by corporate landlords.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As more new homes are built and affordable housing supply increases, Vice President Harris will provide first-time homebuyers with up to $25,000 to help with their down payments, with more generous support for first-generation homeowners.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Harris&rsquo; platform promises to exacerbate those prohibitive conditions she and Biden caused for future generations of would-be homeowners, making it nearly impossible for many young Americans to start buying homes, a key cultural milestone that serves as part of the foundation to raising a family. Instead, Harris&rsquo; plan would more likely keep Americans shacked up in apartments until much later in life.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The worse this gets, the more we are essentially attaching a penalty to people who are investing in themselves, investing in their financial future, investing in their family, and investing in intergenerational wealth, and all of this is creating a world of haves and have-nots,&rdquo; EJ Antoni, research fellow and public finance economist at the Heritage Foundation, told The Federalist in an interview. &ldquo;It is making real what the World Economic Forum said quite a while ago, &lsquo;You will own nothing and be happy.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As for the $25,000 plan, there is no indication as to how that will be paid for, but Antoni likened it to student loans and financial aid plans, another massive government giveaway, purportedly intended to help students with financial struggles, but which ultimately saw colleges and universities drive up their tuition costs knowing taxpayers would be there to foot the bill.<\/p>\n<p>Antoni said that the situation with mortgages is &ldquo;even worse&rdquo; than with financial aid because the $25,000 will not go toward the overall price, but rather a down payment (usually around 20 percent of the total price) meaning sellers could respond by jacking up the price.<\/p>\n<p>It is also unclear if the down payment assistance will be reserved only for Americans. As Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JDVance\/status\/1833175799714771185\">noted<\/a> that Harris&rsquo;s plan could &ldquo;leave open the door for millions of illegal immigrants to get this assistance.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Vance also noted that the presence millions of aliens drives housing demand through the roof in a supply-limited environment.<\/p>\n<p>The economic conditions created under the Biden-Harris administration have brought skyrocketing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mortgagenewsdaily.com\/mortgage-rates\/freddie-mac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mortgage rates<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/fred.stlouisfed.org\/series\/CUUR0000SEHA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rental premiums<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.banking.senate.gov\/newsroom\/minority\/scott-on-housing-in-america-the-american-dream-of-homeownership-is-further-out-of-reach-today-than-it-was-just-a-few-years-ago\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hearing<\/a> in April, ranking member Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) questioned the Harris-Biden Department of Housing and Urban Development&rsquo;s rent control <a href=\"https:\/\/www.huduser.gov\/portal\/datasets\/il.html#faqmethodchange_2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mandates<\/a>, noting that the net effect is lowering the amount of housing supply and driving up prices.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Despite empty promises from the White House about helping working families, the simple fact is that housing costs under President Biden and Vice President Harris have skyrocketed,&rdquo; Scott told The Federalist. &ldquo;From reckless spending to progressive proposals like rent controls and costly &lsquo;green climate&rsquo; goals, the Biden-Harris administration has been more focused on appeasing the far-Left than lowering costs for working families. America has a housing crisis &ndash; and the blame rests squarely on President Biden and Vice President Harris.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The climate alarmism proposals from HUD are also detrimental to housing affordability, as the federal government seeks to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-administration-proposes-energy-efficiency-standards-on-water-heaters\/\" title=\"Biden Admin suggests energy efficiency rules for water heaters.\">impose energy efficiency standards<\/a> on new buildings and homes. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the efficiency standards <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nahb.org\/blog\/2023\/03\/energy-bill#:~:text=Adoption%20of%20the%202021%20International%20Energy%20Conservation%20Code%20can%20cost%20a%20home%20buyer%20as%20much%20as%20%2431%2C000%20in%20additional%20costs%20and%20can%20take%20as%20long%20as%2090%20years%20for%20home%20owners%20to%20see%20a%20payback%20from%20these%20investments.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cost<\/a> homeowners as much as an additional $31,000, which the group says could take as long as 90 years to see return on the investment.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;At the same time a family is facing doubling and sometimes tripling food costs, in order to meet &lsquo;green climate&rsquo; goals, this administration saddles them with an extra $31,000 of additional expenses for a single home,&rdquo; Scott said in April.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the climate proposals, the interest rate roller coaster imposed by the Federal Reserve made it easier for massive hedge funds, like BlackRock, to do exactly the kind of <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240828174225\/https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/blackrock-wall-street-investors-buy-homes-neighborhoods-single-family-rental-2021-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hoarding of single-family homes<\/a> Harris now claims to want to penalize.<\/p>\n<p>BlackRock and other firms, <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20240823015917\/https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/archive\/2019\/02\/single-family-landlords-wall-street\/582394\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">with the help of federal money<\/a>, are <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/06\/11\/what-happens-when-hedge-funds-buy-up-neighborhoods\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">notorious<\/a> for buying up as many single-family homes as they can and paying outrageously more than the asking price to out-bid normal Americans looking to settle their families in a home.<\/p>\n<p>The Federal Reserve created the conditions that allowed them to have such a competitive advantage over would-be homeowners.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It was the fact that you never had interest rates that low before, you never had that much liquidity sloshing around in the market before,&rdquo; Antoni said. &ldquo;It was not a matter of people trying to do this for the first time, it was simply a matter of it was never financially viable to do it before, but when the Federal Reserve made money so insanely cheap that&rsquo;s really what allowed people to do this.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Federal Reserve imposed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/advisor\/investing\/fed-funds-rate-history\/\">extremely low interest rates followed by skyrocketed rates<\/a> in order to respond to massive federal spending since 2021, two bills for which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/vp-harris-tiebreaker-votes-senate-were-key-inflation-boosting-biden-policies-expert\">Harris was the tie-breaking vote<\/a> in the Senate to ram through for Biden&rsquo;s signature: The American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Harris literally owns half of the inflation that we face today, and even for the other half, she was the administration&rsquo;s arguably the administration&rsquo;s biggest cheerleader for all of that spending as well,&rdquo; Antoni said.<\/p>\n<p>While the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/janet-yellen-as-congress-for-billions-to-help-other-countries-debt-relief-climate-change-initiatives\/\" title=\"Janet Yellen As Congress For Billions To Help Other Countries\u2019 \u2018Debt Relief,\u2019 \u2018Climate Change\u2019 Initiatives\">higher interest rates<\/a> have somewhat staved off more purchasing from BlackRock, it also left Americans looking to buy homes in the dust because houses enter the market at an exorbitantly high price as sellers try to compensate for the interest rates on their own next home purchase.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re going to sell a home and lose your existing 2 or 3 percent mortgage and get a new one that&rsquo;s much higher &mdash; 3 or 4 percent higher &mdash; you now have to sell your home for an insane premium so that you can take out a ton of equity and put a much bigger down payment on the next house, so that you don&rsquo;t have to borrow as much because the interest rate is so high that you won&rsquo;t be able to afford the monthly mortgage payment,&rdquo; Antoni explained.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vice President Kamala Harris&#8217; strategy to enhance housing affordability may actually reinforce the very policies that have led to soaring home prices during the Biden administration. During a debate on Tuesday night, Harris presented her &#8220;plan&#8221; to address the housing crisis. Although her proposal was concise, it included several critical elements that could significantly increase housing costs: she aims to construct three million additional rental units and affordable homes within her first term while reducing bureaucratic obstacles to expedite construction. Additionally, she intends to penalize companies that hoard available properties in order to inflate prices for local buyers. Acknowledging high rent levels, Harris plans to support legislation banning new forms of price manipulation by corporate landlords.<\/p>\n<p>As more homes are built and affordable options become available, Harris proposes offering first-time homebuyers up to $25,000 for down payments, with even greater assistance for first-generation homeowners. However, critics argue that this platform could worsen the challenging conditions created by both her and Biden&#8217;s policies for future generations of potential homeowners\u2014making it increasingly difficult for many young Americans to achieve homeownership\u2014a crucial milestone in family life. Instead of facilitating home purchases, Harris&#8217; plan might prolong the time individuals spend living in apartments.<\/p>\n<p>EJ Antoni from the Heritage Foundation expressed concern about how these developments penalize those investing in their futures and families while contributing to a growing divide between wealthier individuals and those struggling financially. He drew parallels between this situation and past government financial aid programs which inadvertently led colleges to raise tuition fees due to guaranteed taxpayer support.<\/p>\n<p>Antoni also pointed out that since the proposed $25,000 would only apply toward down payments (typically around 20% of a home&#8217;s total cost), sellers might simply raise their asking prices accordingly. Furthermore, there is uncertainty regarding whether this assistance will be exclusively available for American citizens; Senator J.D. Vance raised concerns about potential access for undocumented immigrants as well as how their presence can drive up housing demand amid limited supply.<\/p>\n<p>The economic landscape shaped by the Biden-Harris administration has resulted in soaring mortgage rates and rental costs. At an April Senate hearing on banking and urban affairs, Senator Tim Scott criticized HUD&#8217;s rent control measures as counterproductive\u2014ultimately reducing housing supply while increasing prices.<\/p>\n<p>Scott stated that despite claims from the White House about aiding working families, actual housing costs have surged under Biden and Harris\u2019 leadership due largely to excessive spending coupled with progressive initiatives like rent controls aimed at appeasing leftist agendas rather than genuinely addressing affordability issues.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally detrimental are HUD\u2019s climate-related proposals imposing energy efficiency standards on new constructions; according to industry experts like the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), these standards can add up $31,000 per home\u2014costs which may take decades before yielding any return on investment.<\/p>\n<p>Simultaneously facing rising food expenses due partly from inflationary pressures linked back through federal spending decisions made since 2021\u2014including two significant bills where Harris cast tie-breaking votes\u2014the Federal Reserve\u2019s interest rate fluctuations have further complicated matters by enabling large hedge funds such as BlackRock access competitive advantages over average buyers seeking single-family homes amidst tight market conditions exacerbated by low borrowing rates followed later by sharp increases intended primarily as responses against rampant federal expenditures initiated during this period.<\/p>\n<p>In summary: Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019 approach towards making housing more accessible risks perpetuating existing challenges faced under current leadership rather than providing effective solutions needed urgently today across America\u2019s diverse communities grappling with escalating living expenses driven largely through misguided policy choices made previously at higher levels within government structures themselves<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2340719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/52680356132_104ceb92ef_o-e1726245661434.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[18297,4021,40833,34231,27491],"class_list":["post-2340718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-affordability","tag-harris","tag-housing-plan","tag-policy-analysis","tag-real-estate"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/52680356132_104ceb92ef_o-e1726245661434.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2340718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2340719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2340718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2340718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2340718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}