Harris presents policy proposals to address affordable housing crisis

Vice President Kamala Harris presented her housing policy on Thursday. Among other things, she promises to build three million new housing units during her first term as president and to expand down payment assistance for home buyers.

The plan of the Democratic presidential candidate, who The Nevada Independent And The Wall Street Journal Thursday afternoon’s meeting will seek to combat the housing shortage and rising rents by building on plans by President Joe Biden, who is calling for more housing construction and greater financial relief for homeowners, and urging federal lawmakers to pass stalled legislation to counter the rise in corporate housing purchases.

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, are presenting their policy platforms as part of an accelerated campaign after Biden stepped down from the top of the Democratic ticket last month and immediately endorsed Harris. Harris is expected to unveil the campaign’s economic platform on Friday.

Notably, the housing plan did not include any calls to release federal land for the construction of affordable housing, an issue on which Nevada’s Democratic congressional delegation and Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo rarely see eye to eye. Some housing advocates argue that simply providing land is not enough to solve the state’s housing crisis, especially in a state where expansion requires additional, often costly, infrastructure.

Even before Harris became the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Biden had already addressed housing policy during the election campaign. Earlier this year, he held an event on the topic in Las Vegas, where he underscored his commitment to the issue in a swing state with a particularly acute housing crisis.

The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that Nevada lacks nearly 80,000 affordable rental units to meet the needs of extremely low-income renters — those at or below the federal poverty line or earning less than 30 percent of the area median income. The state’s median home sales price has risen dramatically since the pandemic, from about $300,000 in 2019 to nearly $460,000 today — one of the biggest cost-of-living challenges that’s making voters pessimistic about an economy that the numbers show is generally strong.

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign also includes a plan to improve housing affordability, including lowering mortgage rates to help new home buyers, dedicating government lands to housing construction, providing tax breaks to homeowners and first-time buyers, and eliminating “unnecessary regulations that increase housing costs.”

Construction of new residential units

To support the construction of three million new housing units – one million more than Biden promised in his 2024 State of the Union address – Harris plans to introduce a new homebuilding tax incentive for first-time buyers.

Their policy plan also includes expanding existing tax incentives for new residential construction – a measure also proposed by the Biden-Harris administration – and establishing a new federal fund for housing innovation.

The fund would be about $40 billion, double what was proposed under Biden. Harris’ campaign team, however, nuances the innovation fund proposal, saying the money would “empower local governments to fund local housing solutions.”

Assistance with down payment

Democrats in Congress have tried to pass legislation that would provide first-time homebuyers — people whose parents did not own a home — with a down payment of up to $25,000. But that effort has stalled while other Democrats have pushed for an extension of the aid.

The campaign’s proposal, released Thursday, would extend the down payment to families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home. The campaign estimates that more than a million homebuyers would benefit each year.

The plan also called for “more generous support for first-time home buyers,” but did not elaborate.

“Many Americans work hard at their jobs, save, and pay their rent on time each month. But after paying rent and other bills, they can’t save enough to make a down payment – denying them the chance to own a home and build wealth,” the campaign said in an announcement. “This plan will significantly simplify down payment assistance and expand its reach.”

Reduce rent prices

At the heart of the campaign’s efforts to reduce rents is the call for existing laws to be restricted in favor of measures that benefit corporate investors and large landlords.

The plan calls for Congress to pass the Stop Predatory Investing Act, a law that would prohibit investors who purchase 50 or more new single-family homes for rent from deducting interest or depreciation on the properties. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced the bill in April, but it has stalled in the Senate.

The need to take action against usurious investors is well known in Nevada. Democratic Representative Steven Horsford of Nevada has repeatedly called for tougher action against corporate investors who buy up a limited housing stock, thereby driving up rents and displacing potential first-time home buyers.

After the Great Recession in 2008 and again after the COVID-19 pandemic, private equity firms and subsidies flooded Nevada’s single-family home market. As cash prices reigned supreme, data from real estate website Redfin shows that 75 percent of homes nationwide were purchased with cash in 2021, giving larger corporate investors more power and leading to more calls from advocates for reform measures.

To meet these calls for reform, the campaign says it supports passage of the Preventing Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act, a bill introduced by the Senate in January that seeks to crack down on companies that allow landlords to collude to set high housing prices using software and pricing algorithms.

“Corporate landlords are using private equity-backed pricing tools to dramatically increase rents in communities across the country,” Thursday’s announcement said.