Housing experts across the country are wondering exactly how a new Trump administration will increase the nation’s housing stock, just months after the former president complained about what he said was the negative impact of regulations on such projects.
Speaking to the Economic Club of New York in September, Trump said that the regulatory process adds about 30% to the cost of building a new home.
He then remarked that once in office his administration “will open up portions of federal land for large-scale housing construction.”
Such zones, Trump continued, “will be ultra-low tax and ultra-low regulations.” In the process, the opening of those zones will create tens of thousands of new jobs.
The issue of housing affordability was front and center during the 2024 campaign, in a way that it has not been in the past. According to the NBC News Home Buyer Index, a large proportion of counties that moved in Trump’s direction on election day were also the same counties seeing the tightest housing markets.
Altogether, the top 10% of such counties increased their vote for Trump by an average of 4.5% this time around over 2020. His vote was up by a similarly strong 4.2% in markets representing the next 20% most difficult markets.
Analysts say Trump could most positively impact the housing picture by reducing federal regulations on construction and making land owned by Washington available for construction.
But notes the publication Business Insider, Trump’s proposals to “increase tariffs, deport millions of immigrants, and cut housing assistance could increase home prices and rents.”
While taking Trump to task for efforts during his first term to reduce federal investments in affordable housing, the National Low Income Housing Coalition has nevertheless lauded his proposals to reduce regulations and open federal land, saying in a press release that it would support “meaningful solutions to our nation’s affordable housing and homelessness crisis.”
November 18, 2024
By Garry Boulard
