Historical trends show that housing prices have been relatively stable, hovering between four and five times greater than annual household incomes from 1978 to 2001. However, prices surged in the early 2000s, reaching a peak in 2006, when they were 6.82 times greater than median household income. This bubble eventually burst, leading to the Great Recession of 2008-2009.
During the presidencies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, housing prices were generally lower than they are now, typically ranging from five to six times the average household income. While economic growth occurred during both Obama’s and Trump’s terms, prices did not reach the levels seen since the Biden administration took over.
Since March 2022, the ratio of home prices to median household income has consistently remained above seven, indicating that housing prices have been at least seven times greater than household income for most of Biden’s presidency. The latest data suggests that prices could rise to eight times higher than household income before Biden’s first term ends, posing a significant financial challenge for homebuyers.
Several factors have contributed to the dramatic increase in home prices during Biden’s term. One major factor is the administration’s excessive spending, which has fueled inflation across the economy. The Consumer Price Index, a widely accepted measure of inflation, menunjukkan that a consumer or business who purchased $100 of goods and services in January 2021 would have to pay $119.40 today for the same products.
Another significant factor driving up housing prices is Biden’s war on fossil fuels. Rising energy prices increase the cost of harvesting, manufacturing, and transporting the supplies and tools needed to build homes. The Biden administration has made it clear that it intends to transition the U.S. economy away from oil, natural gas, and other affordable fossil fuels, a promise it has kept through various international agreements and regulatory actions.
For example, Biden has significantly limited offshore oil and gas leases and halted the sale of onshore oil and gas leases on federal lands. Although the administration has since restarted selling leases, it has also dramatically increased fees while decreasing the acreage available for drilling.
These and other policies have sent a clear message to fossil-fuel companies that the Biden administration is committed to phasing out most forms of traditional energy development. As a result, many energy companies have scaled back operations and kept prices high.
The combination of higher housing prices, rising mortgage rates, and little hope for improvement in the near term is a direct consequence of Biden’s radical economic agenda. This agenda has made homeownership unaffordable for many Americans and has contributed to the overall financial insecurity faced by many households.
