President-elect Donald Trump has a pressing problem that voters expect him to fix and his solutions will only exacerbate, a new political analysis contends.
Trump's popularity faces imminent peril in the form of a mounting housing crisis that his promised mass deportations, tax cuts and tariff demands will only worsen, Washington Post economics columnist Heather Long argued Wednesday.
"His housing agenda includes a collection of ideas that could easily backfire," wrote Long. "Mortgage rates might turn out to be Trump’s Achilles’ heel."
Mortgage rates are already nearing 7 percent despite Trump's campaign promise that his rise to power would put them as low as 2 percent, Long wrote.
Housing prices matter in a big way to all voters — but to Trump's especially, Long argued.
"The housing crisis is real," Long wrote. "Not only was it a top issue with voters all over the country, but in the toughest markets, where home prices have often doubled in recent years and inventory remains low, voters swung to Trump."
ALSO READ: A giant middle finger from a tiny craven man
The median home price has skyrocketed $100,000 over four years to the current price of $420,000 as the U.S. faces a large shortage of homes, Long reported.
Trump's election caused the bond market to spike mortgage rates as investors predict inflation will spur massive price hikes on the materials needed to build homes, Long reported.
And, according to her analysis, Trump's economic policies likely won't provide any relief.
"The argument that immigrants caused the housing shortage has been widely debunked," Long wrote. "Even if Trump did conduct mass deportations, that would almost certainly make it more expensive and harder to rapidly build homes, as immigrants make up one-quarter of the workers in the construction industry.
"Another idea, to release rural federal lands for development, wouldn’t help where new housing is most needed — in cities and suburbs."
Other problematic policies include loosening bank regulations, rolling back President Joe Biden’s housing policies and shrinking the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Long wrote.
Long argued those policies will likely make affordable housing programs harder to fund — and investors know it.
"Solving the housing crisis requires lower mortgage rates and building more homes," Long concluded. "Right now, the bond market is watching every Trump move for signs of inflation and largesse. And so far, that’s what it sees."
