Where Harris, Trump stand on housing issues ahead of 2024 election: Study

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Housing affordability continues to be a hot-button issue leading up to this year’s presidential election.

A new study, conducted LendingTree, analyzed the proposed housing policies of presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Here’s a look at what Harris and Trump have said about housing during this election cycle, and how this could impact the nation’s housing market should they be elected in November.

Where Harris stands on housing issues

Harris’ campaign has highlighted three key aspects of housing policy that she hopes to enact. Broadly, LendingTree said these policies aim to lower housing costs while increasing housing supply.

Build 3 million housing units over the next 4 years:

Harris has proposed building 3 million housing units over the next four years. There are currently no specifics on where these homes would be built and whether the units would be in addition to the construction already poised to take place. The Harris administration has also proposed "the first-ever tax incentive for homebuilders who build starter homes sold to first-time homebuyers." Details of this tax incentive are unclear, but it could help builders more easily tackle the costs associated with new construction.

A "For Sale" sign outside of a home in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023. (Credit: Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Lower rents by enforcing stricter regulations on large corporate landlords:

A Harris administration would ask Congress to pass two laws — the Stop Predatory Investing Act and the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act. The Stop Predatory Investing Act would deny interest and depreciation tax deductions for taxpayers who own 50 or more single-family properties. Meanwhile, the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act aims to make it illegal for landlords to use rent price data shared with them by third parties to help them increase rents.

Give first-time homebuyers up to $25,000 to put toward a down payment on a home:

According to the Harris campaign, the new administration would "provide working families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home up to $25,000 in down payment assistance." While the campaign doesn’t specify the form in which the assistance would come, similar proposals tend to allocate the aid as a grant.

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Where Trump stands on housing issues:

According to LendingTree, Trump has not yet unveiled many of his plans regarding housing. However, here are a few proposals that he or his campaign has mentioned during this election season.

Reduce immigration

A Trump campaign spokesperson was quoted via CNBC as saying that a Trump administration will "stop the unsustainable invasion of illegal aliens, which is driving up housing costs." There is debate on how many immigrants, including those lacking permanent legal status, influence housing costs. Fewer immigrants without legal status could free up some housing supply and may move costs down somewhat. That said, it’s not clear how much additional supply this would create.

How does the Fed's rate cut affect home prices?

The Federal Reserve's 50 basis point rate cut has potential homebuyers and sellers wondering what affect it will have on the housing market. It's the Fed's first rate cut since March 2020 and it lowers the benchmark federal funds rate to a range of 4.75% to 5%. Real estate experts expect the rate cut will bring more buyers and sellers to market, potentially increasing the inventory and creating momentum for price competition. LiveNOW's Carel Lajara spoke about the housing market with real estate expert Kirsten Jordan.

Eliminate regulations

The Trump campaign’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has stated — via The New York Times — that a future Trump administration would "eliminate costly regulations and free up appropriate portions of federal land for housing." According to the former president, the goal of eliminating these regulations and allowing for more development on federal land is to cut the price of a home in half.

Removing certain regulations and opening more land for development are ideas hich the Trump and Harris campaigns seem to agree. However, the specific regulations that both administrations would attempt to remove and the kind of lands they would allow development on are unlikely to align.

Lower mortgage rates

According to Leavitt, reported by the Times, Trump also has a "real plan to defeat inflation, bring down mortgage rates."

Lower mortgage rates would help make homebuying more affordable. Snagging a lower rate can not only reduce mortgage payments, but it can potentially save borrowers tens of thousands of dollars over the lifetime of their loan.

It’s unclear at this point how the Trump administration plans to lower mortgage rates, but these rates have already come down noticeably in recent months. Regardless of who wins the election in November, there’s a strong chance that they’ll continue to decline as inflation subsides and the broader economy softens.