Kerby Anderson

It should come as no surprise that the U.S. faces a housing crisis. Over a year ago, President Biden promised during his State of the Union address to lower housing prices. He blamed “rent gouging” landlords and greedy realtors. He promised to build two million more homes. In the end, there was accusing and lots of fiery rhetoric, but little changed.

Miranda Devine cites a Heritage Foundation study that documents the following: “During his presidency, the cost of a median-price home more than doubled and rents soared to record highs.” She explains something I have mentioned in previous commentaries, “In many cities, it takes more than the entire median household after-tax income to afford a median-price home.”

Those with a house don’t fare much better. Almost one-third of American adults are “house poor” meaning they spend more than 30 percent or more on their income on a place to live. Sadly, the younger generation has all but given up on the American dream of homeownership that their parents and grandparents achieved.

Miranda Devine cites some of the reasons for the housing crisis, but I want to mention a major reason not mentioned in her column. The price of housing is going up because the value of the dollar is going down. This relates to my two previous commentaries this week about the economy. My house, for example, is supposedly “worth” twice as much as it was ten years ago. But it isn’t more valuable. It’s just that it would take twice as many dollars to buy it because the dollars are worth less each year.

To solve the housing crisis, we need to look at such issues as zoning and housing regulations. But the best chance to really solve it is to acknowledge we have a broken economy and broken money.