Donald Trump is making the affordable housing crisis even worse. Recent economic reports have shown that construction is slowing, with homebuilder sentiment hitting multi-year lows amid falling construction permits and higher building costs due to Trump’s tariffs on basic materials like steel, aluminum, and copper. Worse still, housing costs are continuing to rise even with housing unaffordability reaching new highs not seen since the 2008 recession. The reality is Trump is responsible for an anemic, expensive economy that is wreaking havoc on working families across America as his failed policies drive inflation higher and crush working families with soaring costs. Read more about how Trump’s disastrous tariffs are causing a construction slowdown as prices spike:
BACKGROUND
- 💸 U.S. housing affordability has reached levels of unaffordability not seen since the 2008 crisis, with a 57 percent gap between median household income and the income required to purchase a median-priced home (Seeking Alpha).
- 🏚️ Homes are selling at their slowest summer pace in a decade, yet home prices continue to rise (RedFin).
- 🔨 Even as prices rise, home values are falling in half of major US metropolitan areas (Mortgage Professional America).
- 🏗️ Homebuilder sentiment hit its lowest level since late 2022 this month (Reuters).
- 📝 Home construction permits fell 2.8 percent to a five-year low this month (Reuters).
- 🪚 Home Depot reported that tariffs will soon start hitting some price tags, leading homeowners to push ahead on small home-improvement projects but put off larger ones (Wall Street Journal).
- 🧱 Construction material prices rose faster than inflation last month as Trump’s tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper caused prices to soar (Long Island Business News).
- 🦺 Construction industry hiring fell by 16,000 jobs last month (Axios).