Article Summary –
Kamala Harris pledges to build 3 million homes and provide $25,000 to low-income first-time homebuyers to address North Carolina’s housing crisis, marked by a 41% increase in home prices since 2020. Her plan includes expanding tax credits and streamlining permits. Trump offers fewer specifics, focusing on immigration and deregulation, with critics arguing his policies may not address the core issue of supply shortages.
Harris Pledges to Boost Housing Supply by Three Million Homes, Aid First-Time Buyers with $25,000; Trump Offers No Specific Plans
It’s no secret that North Carolina is in a housing crisis.
In Sept. 2020, the median home sale price in North Carolina was $272,000. By July 2024, it had risen to $382,900—a 41% increase, according to Redfin. In Charlotte, rent prices went up 20% between 2020 and 2023.
The lack of affordable homes and rentals strains middle- and working-class families in North Carolina and has become a key issue in this year’s presidential election. Only one candidate has proposed specific plans to address housing costs.
Kamala Harris’ Housing Plan Focuses on Boosting Supply and Lowering Costs
Democratic nominee Kamala Harris frequently speaks of housing costs on the campaign trail, sharing her own mom’s journey to home ownership. “My mother saved for years to buy a home,” Harris says in one of her ads. “When I am president, we will end the housing shortage by building three million homes and rentals.”
Harris recently released a plan addressing the country’s housing supply shortage and making it easier for families to buy homes. Harris has promised to increase the available housing supply by expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, incentivizing state and local investment in housing.
Harris aims to create a $40 billion tax credit to build new housing and make federal lands eligible for housing development. Her plan also calls for streamlining the permit approval process to cut down on red tape and reduce housing costs. Collectively, these proposals aim to create three million homes by 2028.
If elected, Harris has vowed to provide lower-income first-time homebuyers with up to $25,000 in down payment support. She supports existing bills to address rent costs, including the Stop Predatory Investing Act and the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act.
Harris also backs a proposal from President Biden to withdraw tax credits from landlords who raise rent by more than 5% annually, affecting about 20 million units nationwide.
Trump’s Plan on Housing is Less Clear
On the other side, Donald Trump primarily blames immigrants for housing shortages, suggesting deportation will lower demand. However, policy experts largely agree that the core issue is a supply problem.
Trump’s deportation plan could exacerbate the issue, as 20% of the construction workforce is undocumented. He has also suggested opening federal land for development and removing certain homebuilding regulations but lacks detailed plans.
Trump’s 2017 tax law offers one clue: it created “opportunity zones” for investment in low-income areas, which benefit real estate developers but have questionable benefits for community members. Opportunity zones “provide massive tax benefits to wealthy investors” while doing little to improve conditions in poor communities.
Project 2025 also hints at Trump’s policies. Chapter 15 of the far-right plan focuses on reversing actions taken by the Biden Administration to advance progressive ideology, including Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) policies and the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulation.
Project 2025 also calls for prohibiting “noncitizens, including all mixed-status families, from living in federally assisted housing,” leading to mass evictions. Furthermore, it recommends scrapping “housing first” models, proven to be more effective at reducing poverty and homelessness.
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