This chapter delves into the housing crisis in the United States, focusing on the challenges individuals and families face in affording homes amid skyrocketing prices and rising mortgage rates. It highlights personal stories from Miami residents, explores the 'lock-in effect,' and examines the political implications of housing affordability across different age groups.
As prices for homes and rents continue to rise in many towns and cities, it's one of the key issues for voters.
In 2023 the average price of a home in the United States was $495,100, six per cent higher than a year earlier, though the signs are prices may now be starting to fall.
That’s partly because mortgage rates have spiralled as high as 7% for many new buyers – making repayments prohibitive.
We ask business owners working in housing to tell us why, and what’s the fix?
Presenter: Ed Butler
Producer: David Cann
(Image: A "Now Leasing" sign outside the Willows at Valley Run, an affordable housing development, in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Credit: Getty Images)