Vice President Kamala Harris’ focus on the affordable housing crisis has excited experts in the field. However, their praise comes with a “but”: Her plan relies on a lot of movement in areas presidents don’t have much control over, and if the policy is only implemented halfway, it could backfire.
Harris has called for measures to build millions of homes, and a program to give Americans the money to buy them. That includes tax incentives for builders, investors — particularly those focused on low-income housing — and a proposed $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time buyers.
“We know that the core gist of the problem that we are having in the housing market right now is lack of supply, especially at the affordable end of the housing market, which is the type of housing that the first-time homebuyers would like to access. So I think that’s probably the main reason that this has the supply solution at the top,” Jung Choi, a researcher with the liberal-leaning Urban Institute, said of the Harris campaign’s plan. “But then the thing is that it does take time to build.”