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President-elect Donald Trump wants to address housing affordability in the U.S. by fomenting the construction of new homes.
“We’re going to open up tracks of federal land for housing construction,” Trump said during an Aug. 15 news conference. “We desperately need housing for people who can’t afford what’s going on now.”
As of mid-2023, there has been a housing shortage of 4 million homes in the U.S., according to the National Association of Realtors.
“It’s clear that the prescription for that crisis is more building,” said Jim Tobin, president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders.
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There has been a small increase in new homes being built this year, but it’s still not enough to meet the high demand for housing, leaving a significant gap in the market where there are not enough homes available for buyers, experts say.
Single-family housing starts in the U.S., a measure of new homes that began construction, grew to 1,027,000 in September, according to U.S. Census data. That is a 2.7% jump from August.
While building more homes is the simpler answer to address the housing issue in the country, other promises Trump has made could deter affordability efforts, experts say.
For instance, Trump has talked about enacting a mass deportation of…
