economy
February 7, 2026
Trump housing policy is a mess and it won’t fix the US housing crisis
Deregulation alone can’t make homes affordable when rising inequality, not zoning, is what is driving prices up
TL;DR
- Donald Trump expressed a desire to increase housing prices, contradicting his previous campaign promise to cut new home costs by half through deregulation.
- Housing affordability is a significant concern, with median-priced homes consuming nearly half of a middle-income family's income.
- While deregulation and relaxing zoning constraints are proposed solutions to increase housing supply, research indicates that rising income inequality is the primary cause of escalating housing prices.
- Studies show that even with relaxed zoning, it could take many decades to make housing affordable for workers without college degrees.
- Proposals like expanded rent control are also critiqued for potentially reducing the supply of affordable housing.
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