Research and data supporting the policy proposals in The Affordability and Immigration Act.
The Act proposes five reforms. Over the past twelve months federal law and executive action have moved on four of them. One is now statute, passed 85-5 and 358-32. Three rest on executive action a future administration can reverse without a vote. One has drawn no federal restriction at all. A scored assessment of where each policy stands and what remains.
Read analysis →When Minneapolis eliminated single-family-only zoning and Montana legalized duplexes and accessory units statewide, housing costs grew more slowly. A synthetic-control study of the Minneapolis 2040 Plan estimates home prices ended up 16-34% lower and rents 17-34% lower than a counterfactual city over five years, though the authors caution part of the rent effect may reflect a local demand shock. The empirical case for Policy 5.
Read analysis →Congress enacted a single-family investor-purchase ban on July 11, 2026, by margins of 85-5 and 358-32, establishing in federal law that institutional accumulation of housing is a legitimate object of regulation. More than 20 states restrict foreign real estate purchases. Zoning reform has advanced in a Democratic city and a Republican state. Policies 1, 4, and 5 build on precedent that already exists.
Read analysis →Institutional capital no longer just buys existing homes. It now builds entire single-family subdivisions as rentals that are never listed for individual sale. Single-family built-for-rent starts nearly doubled from roughly 44,000 units in 2020 to roughly 77,000 in 2023, and growth accelerated through 2024. The ROAD to Housing Act bans large investors from buying more existing homes but exempts built-to-rent, leaving the fastest-growing channel of corporate ownership wide open. Policy 1 closes it.
Read analysis →The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became law on July 11, 2026. Section 1001 bars institutional investors controlling 350 or more single-family homes from buying additional existing homes, the first federal prohibition of its kind. It takes effect 180 days after enactment and sunsets after 15 years. What the statute reaches, and what Policy 1 adds through divestment.
Read analysis →Florida SB 264, effective July 2023, became the first modern statewide U.S. law to restrict foreign residential property purchases. By mid-2025, more than 20 states had enacted similar measures. The Eleventh Circuit upheld the Florida statute against facial challenge in Shen v. Simpson, granting only a narrow injunction to four named plaintiffs. An analysis of what state laws cover, how courts have ruled, and what the state record demonstrates about the feasibility of Policy 4 of the Act.
Read analysis →Employers do not have to break the law to underpay H-1B workers. The prevailing-wage system sorts every job into four tiers, and the two lowest, Level 1 and Level 2, are defined below the local median wage for the occupation. About 60% of H-1B positions are certified at those levels, and the workers are paid an estimated 17-34% below market rates. With 758,994 registrations filed for roughly 85,000 slots in FY2024, that below-median discount sets the pay floor across entire technical occupations. How Policy 3 addresses it.
Read analysis →From 1924 to 1965, the United States dramatically reduced immigration. Homeownership rose from 45.6% to 61.9%, real incomes doubled, inequality fell to historic lows, and 27 million homes were built. The COVID slowdown confirmed the mechanism still works. A data-driven analysis of the longest natural experiment in immigration and economic outcomes.
Read analysis →A record 22.6 million renter households - half of all U.S. renters - now spend more than 30% of income on housing. Federal Reserve research shows institutional landlords raise rents 60% faster upon acquisition. Meanwhile, 7.6 million affordable rental units have disappeared in a decade.
Read analysis →Since 1990, median home prices have risen 244% while real household income grew just 28%. The price-to-income ratio has risen from 4.1x to 5.3x. In high-immigration sectors, real wage growth has been near zero. An analysis of both blades of the affordability scissors - and the research on what drives them.
Read analysis →The U.S. is short 3.8 million housing units. Regulatory costs add 23.8% to the price of every new home. In San Francisco, permitting takes 27 months; in Tokyo, 2 months. An analysis of the zoning restrictions, permitting delays, and regulatory barriers that block housing construction - and what works.
Read analysis →The Immigration Act of 1990 more than doubled annual admissions to over 1 million per year. In the 35 years since, the U.S. has added 30+ million people through immigration while housing construction stagnated. An analysis of population growth vs. housing starts, wage effects, and the 1924-1965 precedent.
Read analysis →First-time buyers now represent just 21% of purchases - the lowest share since tracking began in 1981. The median buyer age has risen to 40, up from 29 in 1981. Millennials at age 30 had a homeownership rate 15 percentage points below Baby Boomers at the same age. An analysis of the generational homeownership gap and the structural forces behind it.
Read analysis →Between FY2020 and FY2025, Amazon received approval for over 72,000 H-1B visa petitions. During that same period, the company laid off approximately 58,000 employees. A data-driven analysis of what this reveals about the H-1B program.
Read analysis →In 2024 - 2025, foreign buyers purchased 78,100 U.S. homes totaling $56 billion. Nearly half paid all cash. The United States is one of the only major economies with no federal restrictions on foreign residential purchases. An analysis of the data and how Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Switzerland have responded.
Read analysis →The Immigration Act of 1990 created H-1B as a temporary visa for exceptional talent. Through systematic exploitation - unlimited renewals, staffing firm dominance, and wage loopholes - it has become a permanent pipeline for lower-cost labor. An analysis of how the program deviated from Congressional intent.
Read analysis →Before 2011, no single investor owned more than 1,000 single-family homes. Today, firms like Blackstone, Cerberus, and Pretium Partners control nearly half a million houses. An analysis of how private equity entered the housing market, which companies are involved, and the impact on prices and homeownership.
Read analysis →All analysis is based on publicly available data from government sources, academic research, and reputable reporting.
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