Housing Affordability Deserves Serious Attention

Housing affordability is finally being talked about again at the national level, and that matters.

For a long time, buying and owning a home was seen as the natural reward for working hard, building stability, and putting down roots. Today, that reality feels increasingly out of reach for many Americans, especially younger families trying to get started. So when national leaders put housing back at the center of the conversation, that deserves recognition.

I want to commend Donald J. Trump for directly addressing housing affordability and for calling attention to forces that are distorting the market. I also appreciate that this conversation appears to be broader than a single policy lever. Ideas like longer mortgage terms, tax incentives for first time buyers, and affordability focused reforms are worth exploring. No one solution fixes a problem this complex.

That said, if we are serious about making housing attainable again, we need to be honest about what is actually driving prices and limiting opportunity.

Institutional investors are a factor, but not the main one

Large institutional investors buying single family homes have contributed to higher prices and reduced inventory in certain markets. That is real, and it is reasonable to discuss guardrails.

However, on a national scale, they are not the dominant force behind unaffordability. Their impact is uneven and highly localized. A broad federal crackdown on domestic investment risks unintended consequences, including reduced housing liquidity and less capital available for new construction.

Government interference in domestic capital markets should always be approached carefully and paired with policies that expand supply rather than simply restricting demand.

Foreign investors deserve far more scrutiny

Where stronger limits make much more sense is foreign investment.

Non resident foreign buyers purchasing homes as assets rather than places to live distort local markets without contributing to housing stability. Homes sitting vacant or being used purely as stores of value do nothing for communities or affordability.

Targeted limits on foreign ownership, especially for single family housing, are far more defensible than sweeping restrictions on domestic investors who are still part of the U.S. tax and economic system.

Short term rentals are quietly removing massive supply

One of the most under discussed drivers of housing scarcity is short term rentals.

In many traditionally single family neighborhoods, homes that once housed families are now effectively small hotels. This removes inventory from both owner occupants and long term renters, drives up prices, and changes the character of neighborhoods.

In many markets, short term rentals have had as much or more impact on inventory than institutional investors, yet regulation remains fragmented and inconsistent. Any serious housing policy conversation needs to include this reality.

Builders and developers are carrying the heaviest burden

If there is one place housing policy consistently fails, it is on the supply side.

We are not building enough homes. Not because builders do not want to, but because it has become too expensive, too slow, and too risky to do so.

Zoning restrictions, density limits, permitting delays, layered fees, and years long approval processes all add cost. Those costs are not absorbed by builders. They are passed directly to buyers.

If affordability is the goal, builders and developers need incentives, not handcuffs.

That means tax incentives for entry level and workforce housing, faster approvals tied to price points, and policies that reduce friction rather than add more.

Land access is the overlooked lever

Housing cannot be affordable if land is artificially constrained.

The federal government controls vast amounts of land, particularly in western states. If affordability is truly a priority, there should be serious discussion around releasing land for residential development, helping states open land through federal funding, and tying infrastructure dollars to actual housing production.

Without land, nothing else works.

The bottom line

It is encouraging to see housing affordability back in the spotlight. That conversation is overdue.

But affordability will not be solved by focusing only on who is allowed to buy homes. It will be solved by addressing how many homes can be built, how quickly they can be built, and at what cost.

That means thoughtful limits on foreign ownership, a serious look at short term rentals, and a fundamental shift in how we treat builders, developers, and land access.

Housing is not a talking point. It is a supply problem. And supply problems require structural solutions.