WASHINGTON, DC – The National Housing Conference’s (NHC) President and CEO David M. Dworkin released the following statement in response to new actions announced by President Biden in his State of the Union address to lower housing costs for American families:
“President Biden’s proposals to help homebuyers are measured and calibrated so they will not increase prices. What they will do is open the door to homeownership to people who have been locked out of the American Dream for generations. Asking them to wait another decade while we dig out of a 10-year supply hole is not fair and not necessary.
According to NHC’s Paycheck to Paycheck database, a typically priced home in the Boise, Idaho metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is now $452,752, up from $359,440 in 2020. In order to comfortably afford to purchase a home in December 2023 with 3% down, a family must earn at least $158,801. In 2020, a 3% downpayment required a salary of $91,301. Within the entire MSA, only two of the 127 professions that are tracked within Boise’s MSA are able to meet that requirement: Airline Pilots and Dentists. All other occupations, from Registered Nurses and Veterinarians to Computer Programmers and Architects, cannot afford to buy a home.
And it is not just limited to Boise. Every American is impacted directly or indirectly by this crisis – the people we rely on to take care of our kids, serve our food, clean our teeth, and teach in our schools. NHC’s data further shows that childcare workers can afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment in only 15 out of 390 MSAs. Cashiers can afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment in only 13 of 390 MSAs. This is true for higher-paid workers as well. Dental assistants can’t afford to rent a one-bedroom unit in 101 of 390 MSAs, and Middle School Teachers cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment in 17 of those areas.
We have a deficit of 3-5 million housing units in this country. We dug this hole over 15 years. We are going to have to get out of it the same way. One shovel at a time.”
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About the National Housing Conference (NHC): Founded in 1931, the National Housing Conference is the oldest and broadest housing coalition in America. NHC is a diverse continuum of affordable housing stakeholders who convene and collaborate through dialogue, advocacy, research, and education, to develop equitable solutions that serve our common interest—an America where everyone is able to live in a quality, affordable home in a thriving community. Politically diverse and nonpartisan, NHC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. To learn more about NHC, visit www.nhc.org.