The Problem

Affordability challenges in the United States are structural, not cyclical. They result from misaligned policies across population growth, housing, labor, and investment.

The Core Dynamic

For decades, housing costs have risen faster than wages for working Americans. This is not a temporary market condition—it reflects deep structural imbalances that have accumulated across multiple policy areas.

The fundamental problem is simple: too many people competing for too few homes, with foreign capital and institutional investors further distorting the market against American families.

No single reform can address these interconnected challenges. Only coordinated structural changes across all contributing factors can restore affordability.

Five Structural Challenges

1. Population Growth Exceeding Housing Capacity

Immigration levels have not been calibrated to housing availability. When population growth consistently exceeds construction capacity, prices rise regardless of other factors. Current policy sets immigration levels without reference to housing market conditions.

  • - Annual legal immigration exceeds 1 million per year
  • - The Immigration Act of 1990 tripled annual immigration: ~330,000/year (1960-1990) to over 1 million/year (1991-2020)
  • - No mechanism ties inflows to housing availability
  • - Demand pressure concentrates in already-constrained markets

2. Institutional Investors Converting Homes to Financial Assets

Large corporations have entered the single-family housing market at scale, acquiring homes as financial assets rather than places for families to live. This transforms the housing market into a competition between families and Wall Street.

  • - Prior to 2011, no single investor owned more than 1,000 single-family homes
  • - By 2022, 32 institutional investors collectively owned 450,000 homes
  • - The five largest investors alone own nearly 300,000 homes
  • - Concentrated in Sunbelt markets: up to 25% of rentals in Jacksonville, Charlotte
  • - First-time buyers systematically outcompeted by all-cash offers

3. Foreign Capital Competing with American Families

Non-residents and foreign investors purchase U.S. residential property as investment vehicles or safe-haven assets. This capital competes directly with American families for limited housing stock, driving up prices without adding to productive economic activity.

  • - Foreign buyers purchased 78,100 U.S. homes ($56 billion) in 2024-2025
  • - 47% of foreign buyers pay all cash, compared to 28% of U.S. buyers
  • - Top sources: China ($7.5B), Canada, Mexico, India
  • - Concentrated in Florida (20%), Texas (13%), California (11%)
  • - Shell companies obscure the true extent of foreign ownership

4. Immigration Driving Up Costs and Suppressing Wages

Excessive immigration affects affordability far beyond housing. More people means more demand for everything—food, healthcare, energy, education, transportation—driving up prices across the economy. Simultaneously, guest worker programs flood labor markets with foreign workers, suppressing wages and displacing Americans from jobs they would otherwise hold.

  • - 1+ million annual immigrants add demand pressure across all goods and services
  • - H-1B workers paid 17-34% below market wages, suppressing pay for all workers in affected fields
  • - 60% of H-1B positions certified at below-median wage levels
  • - Staffing firms dominate H-1B, using the program for labor arbitrage rather than exceptional talent
  • - American workers displaced or forced to accept lower wages to compete
  • - Real wage growth has stagnated while cost of living has risen

5. Local Zoning Blocking Housing Construction

Many local jurisdictions maintain policies that limit new construction, creating artificial scarcity. Even when demand and capital exist, regulatory barriers prevent housing from being built.

  • - Restrictive zoning limits housing density
  • - Lengthy permitting processes add years and costs
  • - NIMBY opposition blocks development
  • - Impact fees discourage new construction

The Case for Simplicity

Effective policy is clear policy. The Affordability Act of 2026 is built on principles that make legislation work:

  • →Understandable — five policies that any citizen can read and evaluate. Transparency builds public trust.
  • →Focused — each policy addresses a specific structural problem with a defined solution.
  • →Enforceable — clear language means clear enforcement. No ambiguity for bad actors to exploit.
  • →Measurable — defined metrics allow progress to be tracked and policies to be adjusted based on outcomes.

Five clear policies. Each one targeted, each one enforceable, each one designed to produce measurable results.

See the Solution

Five straightforward policies to restore housing affordability.

View the Act

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