This chapter examines the urgent challenges of rising rents and home prices in the U.S. housing market, highlighting the complexities of achieving bipartisan solutions. It discusses proposed initiatives for affordable housing and the potential impacts of policy changes on communities, particularly concerning zoning laws.
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)