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Thirty-eight percent of early voters said housing affordability influenced their vote, according to a survey from Redfin.
Voters who supported Vice President Kamala Harris‘ ticket were more likely (43 percent) than voters who supported former president Donald Trump’s ticket (29 percent) to say their chosen candidate’s housing policies impacted their vote. Although housing affordability was part of the top 14 issues on voters’ minds, it still ranked well below other hot-button issues including the economy (63 percent), inflation (59 percent), protecting democracy (56 percent), immigration (55 percent) and healthcare (52 percent).
“While voters who have already cast their ballot were more likely to cite issues other than housing affordability, it’s still an important factor for many voters,” the report read.
Harris and Trump have both offered plans to improve affordability and boost homeownership rates. Harris’s plan is arguably more comprehensive and includes $25,000 in down-payment assistance for first-generation homebuyers, a $10,000 tax credit for middle-income homeowners, a closing cost waiver on refinanced mortgage loans and $1 billion toward affordable housing.
Meanwhile, Trump’s housing policy focuses on cutting building regulations, lowering energy costs and limiting undocumented immigrants’ housing rights, as he blames them for the country’s housing shortage.
“It has become much more difficult to afford to buy or rent a home since the pandemic-driven moving boom, which drove up housing costs,” the report read. “It’s worth noting that homes in traditionally blue parts of the country are typically quite expensive, which is likely one reason Harris voters were more likely to say housing affordability impacted their vote than Trump voters.”
Although housing policy ranked toward the bottom for the presidential race, Redfin’s survey revealed the issue had a slightly greater impact on voters’ local ballots. Forty percent of respondents said housing affordability impacted how they voted for local officials — a 5.26 percent increase from voters who said the same for their presidential vote.
Crime and safety (50 percent), the economy (46 percent), and inflation (41 percent) were the only issues to outrank housing affordability on the local level with healthcare (37 percent) and protecting democracy (36 percent) rounding out the top five local voting concerns.
Lastly, voters on both ends of the spectrum said they believe the election’s results will impact mortgage rates.
Thirty-two percent of Trump voters said mortgage rates will fall if their candidate gets elected, while 23 percent of Harris voters said the same. For those who expect rates to rise, Harris voters were more likely (32 percent) to anticipate a bump if their candidate wins compared to Trump voters (28 percent). Roughly a fourth of voters on both sides of the spectrum said they “don’t know” what will happen to rates while roughly 20 percent said they think rates will stay the same.
Redfin said the Federal Reserve has the biggest influence on mortgage rates, as they set the federal funds rate in response to inflation and other macroeconomic trends. However, the president and Congress can influence the “long-term direction of the economy” through policy changes.
