Harris to propose US$25,000 assistance for first-time homeowners
Harris is also looking to propel the construction of three million new housing units
VICE President Kamala Harris will propose offering as much as US$25,000 for first-time homeowners as part of an economic policy rollout on Friday (Aug 16), a tacit acknowledgment that voter angst over rising housing costs poses one of the biggest political challenges to her presidential campaign.
Under the programme, more than one million first-time home buyers who have a two-year history of on-time rent payments would be eligible for “down-payment support,” the Harris campaign said on Thursday.
That represents a substantial expansion of a programme unveiled by President Joe Biden during his State of the Union address, which proposed offering a US$10,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and the more generous benefit for those whose parents didn’t own their home.
Harris is expected to discuss the housing proposals at a political rally on Friday in North Carolina, alongside other parts of her economic platform, including a push for a federal ban on food and grocery price gouging.
Any changes to the tax code would require congressional approval, as would Harris proposals to limit corporate landlords from using data firms to set price increases and remove key tax benefits for real estate investors purchasing a significant number of rental homes.
Harris is also looking to propel the construction of three million new housing units through construction tax incentives, and double, to US$40 billion, a Biden proposal for a fund for local governments to build or preserve affordable housing units.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Tuesday, 12 pm
Property Insights
Get an exclusive analysis of real estate and property news in Singapore and beyond.
The Harris campaign housing plans were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The proposals come just days after July’s inflation reading showed that shelter prices had jumped 0.4 per cent from the previous month – underscoring housing’s role as a persistent driver of inflation. In June, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said it might take several years for pandemic-era rent increases to work their way out of inflation readings.
Just 21 per cent of Americans said it was a good time to purchase a house in a Gallup survey earlier this year.
Still, the ability to address housing costs remains a stubborn problem – particularly for the White House. The market is set largely by interest rates and constrained supply. Even as investors believe the Fed is likely to begin cutting rates later this year, mortgages are expected to remain substantially more expensive than they were before the central bank began raising rates in 2022.
Donald Trump, Harris’ Republican opponent, denounced the package as Venezuela-style communism at a news conference on Thursday at his New Jersey golf resort.
“This announcement is an admission that her economic policies have totally failed and caused really a catastrophe for our country, and beyond that, a catastrophe in the world,” he said. BLOOMBERG
Share with us your feedback on BT's products and services
