A variety of market forces, policy decisions, and demographic changes have converged to make building affordable housing a difficult, and politically fraught, proposition. But the reality is significantly more complicated than simply jump-starting construction. With supply shortages across the country, the simple answer to the rent being вЂњtoo damn highвЂќ is, of course, to build more housing.

Nearly two-thirds of renters nationwide say they canвЂ™t afford to buy a home, and saving for that down payment isnвЂ™t going to get easier anytime soon: Home prices are rising at twice the rate of wage growth.Д®ven as the economy continues to grow and the housing market rebounds from the Great Recession, Americans face widening inequality, and, for many, an inability to comfortably pay for housing as wage growth stagnates and housing costs continue to climb. Even some high-income earners in expensive coastal cities struggle with rent. Harvard researchers found that in 2016, nearly half of renters were cost-burdened (defined as spending 30 percent or more of their income on rent). The National Low Income Housing Coalition found in 2018 that a renter working 40 hours a week and earning minimum wage can afford a typical two-bedroom apartment (i.e., not be cost-burdened) in exactly zero counties nationwide. ItвЂ™s affecting Americans across the income spectrum. The United States is facing an affordable housing crisis.

Other words for housing issues