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Davidson Delivers Remarks at Hearing to Explore Government Barriers and Market-Based Solutions to Housing Affordability

Washington, Dec 6 -

Today, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, led by Chairman Warren Davidson (OH-08), is holding a hearing  entitled “Housing Affordability: Governmental Barriers and Market-Based Solutions.”

Watch Chairman Davidson’s opening remarks here.

Read Chairman Davidson’s opening remarks as prepared for delivery:

“Today the Subcommittee will hold a hearing to discuss the lack of affordable housing in many communities across the country.  

“In particular, we will examine government programs and market-based solutions to bring down the cost of housing. 

“Americans spend more on housing than any other household expense–historically, 33 percent of a family’s budget. Families in many areas of the country would love to get back to that level… The rise in both home prices and rents has far exceeded household income since the 1970s, and this gap is only growing. 

“In Cincinnati, Ohio—a city once considered affordable—the median home price is now $270,000, which is approaching four times the annual median household income. Such unaffordability is spreading far beyond parts of the country known for their high cost of living like New York City, San Francisco, or Washington, DC. Nationwide, median home prices now are nearly six times median household income despite historic levels of government intervention in housing markets.  

“That’s why this Committee held multiple affordability hearings last spring on the Biden Administration’s misguided policy of increasing mortgage costs on creditworthy borrowers. That idea was an insult to affordability. The House responded by passing my ‘Middle Class Borrower Protection Act’ to eliminate those harmful costs, though the Senate has yet to act. 

“The rental market is facing similar challenges. Renters are now the most cost-burdened they’ve been in over two decades. While rents have gone up–in some areas by double-digit growth–median income for renter households actually went down between 2019 and 2021.

“For many, housing is becoming unobtainable across America. One in three young adults aged 18 to 34 live in their parents’ homes. This impacts their ability to start a family, build wealth, and contribute to the national economy. Seniors, too, with fixed incomes and the burden of increasing health care costs, are even more cost-burdened than ever when it comes to housing. Even in rural areas, where land is abundant, price pressures exist, such as cost increases to rent and build manufactured homes.

“As we confront these affordability challenges, what seems to get left out of the conversation is that all of the expansive efforts of government have not solved this problem; they’ve added to it.

“The solutions we need are market-based solutions where we remove government barriers to the construction of housing and encourage greater private sector investment in housing.

“Of course, my friends on the other side of the aisle will likely see things differently and suggest that more government rules and more taxpayer spending are the way to go.  

“Those were the solutions they pushed during the years they were in the majority; interestingly enough, those are the same years that the affordability crisis they so often decry, got worse.  

“Not only have those policies failed, but it also seems that the Biden Administration wants to avoid Congressional accountability for its failed housing policies altogether.  

“Case in point, for almost a year now, the Committee has requested that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge appear to discuss the Biden Administration’s housing affordability plan. 

“In fact, since May, the Committee has repeatedly offered to host the Secretary for her first appearance since July of 2021, only to have her repeatedly decline to testify or outright refuse to respond to numerous requests. 

“Silence is a poor response to a crisis. The American people deserve greater transparency in how their government operates, especially when it has to do with their ability to afford a better life.     

“Ensuring accountability is one of the fundamental purposes of this Committee, and it is my hope that the Secretary will finally agree to appear early next year. 

“In the meantime, even without the Administration’s input, the Committee will continue to explore how government policies are contributing to the high cost of housing, and what the private sector can do to address this critical issue for those most in need.” 

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