FROM FOX NEWS: One of the House GOP’s staunchest housing affordability advocates is calling President Donald Trump’s rumored emergency order on the issue a “game-changer.”
Home prices have skyrocketed in recent years, outpacing wage growth and making small houses that were once considered “starters” for young families out of reach for millions of Americans.
Zoning restrictions, high building costs, regulatory issues and insufficient levels of new construction have all been named as reasons for the current crisis.
Additionally, new tariffs on materials like steel, aluminum and lumber are projected to add about $10,900 to the cost of building a new single-family home, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
House Main Street Caucus Chair Mike Flood, R-Neb., who also chairs the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee on the House Financial Services Committee, told Fox News Digital that he is hoping Trump ultimately follows through on declaring an emergency on housing affordability.
“When you have a housing shortage and a supply issue, it pushes up valuations, which pushes up your property taxes, because your valuation goes up. It pushes up home insurance premiums because the value of your home is more expensive if there was some kind of a claim,” Flood explained.
So the president of the United States putting his thumb on the scale and saying that housing is in a crisis situation, and it’s an emergency – that changes the entire conversation.”
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