The US Vice President is about to propose a policy to support $25,000 for people who pay rent on time for 2 years, when they buy a first home.
At the economic proposal announcement on August 16, an official from the Harris campaign said that Harris plans to introduce a first-time homebuyer policy, which would apply to families who have paid rent on time for two years and are about to buy their first home.
“Many Americans work hard, save and pay their rent on time every month. But after paying rent and other bills, they don’t have enough money left over for a down payment if they buy a home. This deprives them of the opportunity to own a home and build wealth,” ABC News excerpt prepared speech said.
Harris’s campaign proposes providing $25,000 in down payments to about 400,000 first-time homebuyers, which is 2.5 times the $10,000 tax credit proposed by President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address in March. “This plan would help about 1 million people a year,” Harris’s campaign said.
Vice President Kamala Harris in Wilmington, Delaware on July 22. Photo: AP
Earlier, an official also revealed that Ms. Harris has a plan to “end the housing shortage,” including calling for the construction of 3 million new homes and preventing Wall Street investors from buying up real estate en masse. Officials said she will propose a $40 billion innovation fund that would help local governments finance housing solutions and support “innovative” approaches to financing construction. Some eligible federal lands would also be redeveloped for new housing projects.
“Harris will work with workers and the private sector to build affordable housing, including rentals and purchases. She will also remove barriers to new housing construction, at the state and local levels, to lower rents and mortgages,” her campaign said. Harris will propose two bills to tackle “corporate and large landlords” to prevent them from raising prices.
Over the past few years, rising home prices and high interest rates have made the dream of home ownership increasingly out of reach for many Americans. A new survey by CNN Research shows that 86% of renters want to buy a home but haven’t done so yet. In fact, about half of this group thinks they never will.
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average home price here reached a record $426,900 in June, up 4.1% over the same period last year. Survey of CNN shows that the biggest barrier for Americans now is the down payment, followed by interest rates and the ability to qualify for a home loan.