Published by FOX Business | August 16, 2024
Some experts say the Democratic presidential nominee's plan would only make the affordable housing crisis worse, while others say they like the idea on its surface
Vice President Kamala Harris has rolled out a list of actions she would take to tackle the affordable housing crisis in the U.S. if she wins the presidency, including the expansion of President Biden’s proposal earlier this year to provide $25,000 in down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers.
While Biden’s plan from May called on Congress to provide $25,000 for some 400,000 first-generation homebuyers, Harris wants to offer an average of $25,000 assistance to all first-time homebuyers in the country, which the Democratic presidential nominee says would be provided to more than four million people over four years if she were to occupy the Oval Office.
The proposal sent out by the Harris campaign is light on details about how the $25,000 in assistance would work, but taken at face value, the idea already has both supporters and critics.
Alexander Gorlin, an architect who co-authored the book “Housing the Nation: Social Equity, Architecture, and the Future of Affordable Housing,” told FOX Business he likes the idea, but he and co-author Victoria Newhouse both said they would need to see more about the plan, noting that $25,000 might be great assistance in some areas of the country, but would not go very far in places with higher home prices, like San Francisco.
Tony Fiorillo, owner of Asset Management Strategies, Inc., told FOX Business that Harris’ plan “is a perfect formula to create inflation.”
“Providing this benefit from the government would increase demand for houses at a time when there is already a shortage of homes available for sale,” Fiorillo said, arguing that the incentive would create higher demand, thereby lowering the supply of available homes even further.
