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Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump don’t agree on much, but they do on one thing: The cost of housing is too high.

Housing costs have become a major source of worry and financial stress for many Americans as prices 

 in the last five years, and many households are struggling to find a home they can afford to buy.

Here’s how the Harris and Trump campaigns say they will address the country’s housing woes.

When Harris talks about housing, she makes it personal, remembering how her mother saved up to buy a home and recalling

her mother’s pride when she bought it. Then she hits the highlights of how she plans to make housing more affordable.

“As president, I will fight to help first-time homebuyers with your down payment, take on the companies that are jacking up rents, and build millions of new homes,” Harris said in a 

 is a mix of increasing supply, providing financial support to aspiring homebuyers and curtailing corporate landlords.

Harris wants to build three million new housing units. America is 

, and increasing supply would help bring down rents and mortgages. Many housing experts agree that this focus on supply is a good approach.

To amp up that construction, especially at the cheaper end, Harris wants to expand 

 that are used to build affordable rental housing. She also wants to create a new tax credit that would incentivize building more starter homes.

Harris also proposes a $40 billion fund to spur new methods in housing construction, including more affordable home designs and new ways to finance construction.

The vice president also vows to cut the red tape that slows housing construction and makes it more expensive to build.

But much of the regulation and bureaucracy that limits housing is 

. The federal government has a limited ability to shape those rules, though it can certainly incentivize what it wants to see happen.

Harris is calling for $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers. With prices so high, down payment assistance for first-time buyers “can really help people make that leap,” says Shamus Roller, executive director of the National Housing Law Project.

But many economists argue that this support would actually drive prices higher.

Giving a bunch of people an extra $25,000 will increase demand, says Michael Strain, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank. And there’s already 

 of demand. More buyers bidding on homes would lead to higher prices, Strain says.

And though first-time buyers are the target of the assistance, “a lot of that $25,000 is going to go to the sellers of homes, and not to the buyers of homes,” Strain says.

 also calls for tax incentives and support for first-time buyers. It’s not clear what the eligibility requirements would be in either party's proposal.

Harris is calling on Congress to pass two bills she says would lower rents. One would 

 that buy up single-family homes, and another 

 from using algorithmic software to increase rents.

Trump’s plans when it comes to housing are much less detailed than Harris’s, but the former president frequently brings up housing costs in his speeches.

Like Harris, Trump talks about building more homes. He has called for 

 for housing, an idea that Harris also supports. He also pledges to slash regulations and make it easier to build.

Trump says he’ll bring down mortgage rates to make homebuying more affordable,

even though the president doesn't set mortgage rates or interest rates (though his or her policies can affect them).

 last month in Arizona, Trump lamented the prevailing mortgage rates. Rates were then a little over 6%, but Trump overstated them by several points.

“Today the mortgage rates are at 10%, 11%, 12%, you can't get the money. We're going to bring it down very fast, we're going to bring energy down. We will drive down the rates so you will be able to pay 2% again and we will be able to finance or refinance your homes drastically,” he said.

During the pandemic, mortgage rates did dip below 3% at the end of Trump's presidency. But it's been more than three decades since they were at 10%, and they're 

Trump says he’ll bring mortgage rates down by slashing inflation. But inflation 

other aspects of Trump’s economic plans 

Trump and his vice-presidential nominee JD Vance have blamed undocumented immigrants for driving up housing prices. 

 last month, Vance said competition from illegal immigrants is one of the most significant drivers of home prices in the U.S.

This is another exaggeration, though there is some effect.

Immigrants do increase housing prices, just like any population growth does, if supply doesn't keep up with demand, according to Albert Saiz, associate professor of urban economics and real estate at MIT.

But the effect is not nearly as large as the Trump campaign has made it sound.

“That effect is relatively small,” Saiz says, and it cannot account for much of the rise in rent prices. 

 found rents have increased 19% since 2019, rising 1% this year.

The effect on housing prices would be larger in an area where there is a higher concentration of immigrants, Saiz adds.

, which would have a number of effects on the housing market. There would be fewer people in the country, decreasing demand for housing. But it would also remove a significant number of construction workers, which would likely make building new homes more expensive.

“My baseline view is that the deportation scheme that President Trump is discussing would increase home prices, not decrease home prices,” says Strain, the AEI economist. “But I think we know very little about what he actually has in mind.”

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Laurel Wamsley

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Housing costs are a top issue for many voters. Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have proposed different ideas for addressing the country's housing woes.

Housing is expensive. Here’s how Harris and Trump promise to bring costs down

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