While Redfin economists emphasize that the president cannot resolve all housing affordability challenges alone; federal and local governments must work together, according to a recent Redfin survey, nearly half—an estimated 48.4%—of American renters believe Kamala Harris would be the greatest for lowering housing costs, while nearly one-third (31.2%) believe Donald Trump would be the best. Approximately one in five tenants (18.7%) are unsure of the ideal candidate.
Approximately 50% of renters who responded to the survey believe Kamala Harris would be the best candidate to lower housing costs, while roughly 33% believe Donald Trump would. Because many of them are young and reside in cities, renters tend to lean Democratic.
This is based on an Ipsos survey that Redfin commissioned in September 2024. The poll was fielded to 1,802 persons aged 18-65. This study centers on the estimated 894 renters who responded to the following question:
“Which candidate do you think will be the best for making housing more affordable, regardless of who you plan on voting for in the U.S. presidential election?”
According to Daryl Fairweather, Chief Economist for Redfin, a large portion of renters are young adults who live in cities with higher living costs and a greater likelihood of relying on government assistance. In the November election, 28% of renters who answered to the study want to vote for Donald Trump, 13% say they won’t be voting, and 11.7% are unsure.
Of all renters, more than two out of every five (43.6%) plan to vote for Kamala Harris. The remaining respondents who were renters either did not want to respond (3.6%) or said they would vote for a different candidate (0.8%).
“While the president has some tools to combat the housing affordability crisis, they can’t fix it on their own,” Fairweather said. “It’s going to take a coordinated effort by the federal government and local governments over the course of many years, focused on incentivizing more homebuilding to ease a housing shortage that has been brewing since the Great Recession.”
Although just over one-third (34.4%) of American households are renters, it’s important to note that this percentage has been rising as the cost of housing has skyrocketed. According to a different Redfin analysis, the number of renters in America is increasing three times faster than that of homeowners.
In that same report, there were a record 45.2 million renter households in America in Q2 of this year, an approximate increase of 1.9% year-over-year. Compared to the number of homeowner families, which increased by 0.6% to a record 86.3 million, that is more than three times quicker. While the number of homeowner households expanded at its weakest rate since 2019, the number of renter households grew at its second-fastest rate since 2021. Growth in the number of renter households hit a peak of 2.8% in Q1 of 2024. That was the largest gain since 2015.
“The cost of both renting and buying a home has skyrocketed in recent years, but the affordability crunch isn’t quite as severe in the rental market. That’s because America has been building a lot of apartments to keep pace with robust demand from renters,” said Sheharyar Bokhari, Senior Economist at Redfin. “The country’s leaders should heed this lesson when considering how to improve affordability in the homebuying market; when there’s more housing to go around, prices don’t increase as fast.”
To read the full report, including more data, charts, and methodology, click here.
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