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A new poll by survey firm Morning Consult and the National Association of Home Builders has found tour out of five American households believe the nation is suffering a housing affordability crisis and at least 75 percent report this is a problem at the state and local level as well.
“Housing affordability is near a 10-year low and this poll confirms the challenges hard-working families face to keep housing within reach as rising costs continue to outpace wage growth,” Greg Ugalde, NAHB chairman and a developer from Torrington, Connecticut, said in a statement. “Policymakers must roll back inefficient zoning rules, costly impact fees and outmoded land development regulations that are driving up housing costs, contributing to the mounting lack of affordable housing and hurting middle- and low-income households.”
The poll sampled 19,801 adults at the end of August to assess the public’s attitude on whether a lack of affordable housing is a problem in their neighborhoods, cities, states and nationwide. The poll cuts across partisan, regional, demographic and socioeconomic lines. Among its key findings:
- 80 percent of all respondents believe that a lack of affordable housing is a problem in the U.S.
- 78 percent believe this is an issue in their state.
- 75 percent cite housing affordability as a concern in their city and 76 percent say it is an issue in their county.
Nationwide, 73 percent of respondents reported in a similar poll in November 2018 that a lack of affordable housing is a problem, 68 percent said this is an issue in their state and 54 percent cited housing affordability as a concern in their neighborhood.
Asked about potential solutions to the housing affordability problem, respondents in the August poll expressed modest-to-strong support for several policy prescriptions put forth by various candidates for federal elected office.
For example, 64 percent said they would support a proposal to expand government programs to increase the supply of affordable rental housing and 62 percent said they would support a proposal to provide grants to families in areas historically affected by housing discrimination to assist with a down payment on a home. And 57 percent said they would support a proposal to increase taxes on the richest Americans to pay for construction and rehabilitation of more rental housing that is affordable to lower-income households.
More than half of the respondents – 52 percent – said they would support a proposal to reduce regulations, such as restrictive zoning and permitting procedures, that increase the costs of constructing new homes.
NAHB’s Housing Trends Report for the second quarter of 2019 found that 80 percent of buyers say they can afford to purchase fewer than half of the homes available in their local markets.
When asked which of the two major political parties is more likely to take action to reduce the cost of housing in the United States, respondents gave the edge to the Democratic Party (36 percent) over the Republican Party (21 percent). Another 24 percent said neither party, and 18 percent said they didn’t know or weren’t sure.
