WASHINGTON — The United States government will announce new measures to increase the offer of households, at a time when high inflation, high prices of basic goods and high interest rates have increased the cost of living.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will promote the new investments during a visit to Minneapolis. The measures include providing $100 million through a new fund over the next three years to support affordable housing, shoring up the finances of the Federal Financing Bank and other measures.
The growing focus on housing prices comes as the lack of housing units is becoming an issue in this year’s election campaign.
Unattainable prices
“We are facing a very significant housing supply shortage that has been brewing for a long time,” Yellen said at the Monday afternoon event in Minneapolis. “The shortage of supply has caused prices to become unattainable.”
Yellen assures that the government is “pursuing a strategy of making housing affordable, in order to address the price pressures that families have been feeling.”
Both buyers and renters are facing sharp increases in home prices, which have skyrocketed since the pandemic. According to the Case-Shiller survey, which investigates housing prices in 20 different cities, Home prices increased 46% between March 2020 and March 2024.
A new Treasury Department study shows that over the past two decades housing costs have risen faster than incomes.
Meanwhile, existing home sales fell in May for a third straight month, as high mortgage rates and rising prices scared away many potential buyers during what is typically the busiest season for the housing market.
Source: With information from AP
