Americans have been facing high housing costs for the past few years, 2019, to be precise. However, this multiyear surge in home prices has hit the hardest in the swing states expected to determine the outcome of 2024. This is very odd, considering that swing state voters are generally considered the most important ones for parties.
According to the Washington Post, Americans in the swing states are more likely to live in places where the rent is astronomically high. Nationally speaking, the rest of the properties have surged 48% since 2019. However, this data is not accurate when it comes to swing states, as many estimates claim that the cost of housing has nearly doubled in the swing states. The states where prices have almost doubled include Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
According to Dennis Shea, executive director of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, “This is no longer just a big coastal city problem. Housing affordability is poor everywhere, and home prices have gone up dramatically in all seven swing states since 2019.”
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One of the main topics of the election is affordable housing nationwide, and both candidates have proposed solutions. Harris has pledged to increase low-income housing tax credits, create 3 million new houses, and give first-time homebuyers $25,000 in down payment assistance. She has also suggested additional incentives for builders that concentrate on starter homes, as well as $40 billion in state and local financing to promote new rentals and affordable housing.
