Solution: “Would-Be Homebuyers Need 80% More Income Than 4 Years Ago”

While rates have modified somewhat since her report, a fact-check of an article by Bethany Blakely that asserted that would be homebuyers need 80 percent more income than 4 years ago was largely confirmed by using left-leaning Bing’s AI powered Copilot. Blakely’s article apparently resonates with the lived experiences of most U.S. renters and those seeking to upsize or downsize in a higher interest rates and costs market.

“In a bleak survey of 2047 US adults, 57% of renters agree with the statement that “The American Dream of owning a home is dead,” according to the right-leaning New York Post.

Lending Tree reported on 8.14.2023: “An overwhelming 94% of consumers say owning a home is part of the American dream — even if only 84% say it's part of their dream.”

Multi-Family Executive said: “Owning a home is a goal for 85% of renters, but 76% say homes are not affordable for the average American, according to a Home Bay survey” and “72% of Renters Say They'll Never Be Able to Afford a Home” (4.27.2023).

Then president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Jerry Howard said in an interview with Fox Business that: “Right now, in almost no market in this country, can a homebuilder build a house that is affordable for a first-time homebuyer.”

Howard added: “We can’t do it. The costs that are on us make it impossible.”

Fans of big government ought to look closely at what HUD’s own researchers have said.

HUD’s Pam Blumenthal and Regina Gray said:

· “More than 37 million renter and owner households spent more than 30 percent of their income for housing in 2019.”

· “Without significant new supply, cost burdens are likely to increase as current home prices reach all-time highs…”

· “The regulatory environment — federal, state, and local — that contributes to the extensive mismatch between supply and need has worsened over time. Federally sponsored commissions, task forces, and councils under both Democratic and Republican administrations have examined the effects of land use regulations on affordable housing for more than 50 years.”

50 years – 5 decades – of affordable housing promises have been made that were not kept.

As a political independent, let me state the obvious. The data and pull quotes above reveal a huge opportunity for those who believe that free markets and pragmatic public policies can save taxpayers money and still help deliver the American dream to more citizens. Let’s examine some more facts that will make that point.

HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, a longtime Democrat, has left that role. The data above reveals that the Biden-Harris (D) Administration, with Fudge at HUD’s helm, has obviously failed minorities and most affordable home seeking Americans of all backgrounds.

Housing is less affordable than four years ago, as Blakely’s insights and quotes above reflect.

Better than pointing to the failures of the past three and a half years of Democratic policies, why not provide a free market alternative?

People need affordable homes, and millions of those new homes – duh! – ought to be affordable.

Congress agreed with that idea in a widely-bipartisan vote that enacted the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000. A recent fact-check using data similar to Blakely’s findings reveal that without millions of more manufactured homes, the U.S. housing deficit can’t be closed. Allowing the free market to work could save taxpayers tens of billions annually.

Trump-era HUD Secretary Carson saw that and said: “I announced that HUD was in position to usher in a "new era of cooperation and collaboration between our Department and the manufactured housing industry."

Fact-packed insights from the left-leaning Gannett owned Ledger, which left-leaning news aggregators Yahoo News and MSN published in full (2.25.2024) explained how no new laws or spending is necessary to close the affordable housing gap.

The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform, as the Ledger op-ed noted, obtained a letter from Democratic lawmakers who were part of the widely bipartisan coalition that enacted the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (MHIA or 2000 Reform Law).

That letter from Democratic lawmakers explained to then HUD Secretary Mel Martinez that HUD, under the 2000 Reform Law, had the power to use federal “enhanced preemption” when local zoning barred or unjustly limited HUD Code manufactured homes.

But as a CSPAN video and transcript documented, when Secretary Fudge was asked about using federal enhanced preemption authority by Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver (MO-D), she bluntly declined to use that enhanced preemption authority. What is it about the Biden-Harris Administration that appointed officials like Secretaries Fudge or Alejandro Mayorkas think that they can ignore federal law to the detriment of tens of millions of Americans?

Let’s pivot back to the broad confirmation by Copilot of Blakely’s article. This writer has performed, often saved, and then published almost daily tests with Copilot since May 2023. They reveal that an initial inquiry often produces a left-leaning response.

But if a chat thread with Copilot is opened and it is provided with specific facts that go against the leftist narrative, to its credit, Copilot may apologize for its prior response and revise it with a reasonably thoughtful amendment that can be useful for truth-seekers of whatever background or belief.

The experience of state preemption for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in California, if applied to manufactured housing, could solve the affordable housing crisis in just a few years. The alternative is implied by what Blumenthal and Gray were previously quoted saying. Decades of politicians promising fixes have come and gone that they either can’t or won’t deliver on.

If Democrats won’t enforce the law while they are in power, then perhaps it is time for so-called “MAGA” Republicans to have a turn at showing Americans how law enforcement is properly done. Millions of added votes might be earned in 2024 by affordable housing seekers. The U.S. housing crisis could be solved if there were simply the will by Democrats or Republicans to enforce existing laws. ##

L. A. “Tony” Kovach and his family live in a manufactured home in Winter Haven, FL. He is the co-founder of ManufacturedHomeProNews.com and ManufacturedHomeLivingNews.com, trade publications serving segments of the manufactured home industry. Having worked in several aspects of the industry for over 3 decades, Kovach is a widely acknowledged and often praised expert on manufactured housing.