Policy Analysis

Mortgage rates near 6.3% and local supply barriers are jointly squeezing affordability in 2026. Why free-market reform must target both financing burden and build constraints.

FHFA raised 2026 conforming loan limits to $832,750, but supply data and mortgage-rate evidence show why bigger loan ceilings cannot solve affordability alone.

FHA and conforming-loan expansion widened mortgage credit while supply stayed constrained. Data shows rising debt, elevated prices, and affordability that still excludes new buyers.

One year after Liberation Day, the data is in: tariffs on construction materials function as a government-imposed excise tax on housing supply, raising the cost floor by $7,000–$13,000 per home.

Real estate transfer taxes promise easy revenue for affordable housing — but the data show they suppress supply, trap families in place, and devastate the very budgets they claim to fix.

BLS data shows metal molding and trim up 61.7% year-over-year, metal windows up 20.2%. In the post-SCOTUS tariff era, these costs are embedded in every new home.

The Federal Home Loan Bank System provides over $1 trillion in government-backed advances to member banks, inflating mortgage demand and housing prices for 90 years. A free-market analysis.

Property taxes penalize construction and reward idle land-banking. Friedman called land value taxation 'the least bad tax' — with home prices 54% above 2020 levels, it deserves a hearing.

The SALT deduction overwhelmingly benefits California, New York, and New Jersey — the same states with the worst housing affordability. That's not a coincidence.

NAHB builder confidence sits at 38 in March 2026. 37% of builders are cutting prices. The culprit is a policy-made cost structure — and tariffs are a leading driver.

Metal molding prices up 61.7%, Canadian lumber facing a 45% combined duty rate, building material inputs up 3.4%—tariffs are a hidden tax that first-time buyers pay at closing.

The Senate passed the ROAD to Housing Act 89-10 and the White House signed a deregulatory EO the same week. The supply-side framework is right. Here's what it actually does — and doesn't do.

Home insurance costs are up 46% since 2021, with 13.6% of U.S. homes now uninsured. California's Proposition 103 shows exactly how price regulation destroys markets.

The Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act 89-10. The supply provisions are real. The institutional investor ban targets the wrong problem. Here's the data.

Institutional investors own under 1% of single-family homes. Congress targets the wrong culprit while a 4-million-unit housing supply deficit grows.

California's CEQA was designed to protect the environment. Instead, it became a litigation tool for NIMBYs and competitors to veto housing.

NYC banned short-term rentals — Airbnb listings fell 90% — yet rents still rose 2.1%. The data is unambiguous: STR bans target a symptom while ignoring the 3.7-million-unit supply deficit.

Research shows a $25,000 down payment subsidy would raise home prices 4.1% — costing buyers $177B while delivering only $100B in benefits. Friedman's logic explains why.

Federal energy mandates under the 2021 IECC add up to $31,000 to every new home — with payback periods as long as 90 years for buyers least able to afford it.

The 1931 Davis-Bacon Act forces federally funded construction to pay wages 22% above market rates — directly inflating the cost of every affordable housing unit government funds.

Construction defect liability laws have triggered a 90% collapse in California condo production and eliminated 84% of Colorado's condo developers. The data shows exactly who pays the price.

The federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit costs $13.5 billion a year yet produces units priced at $480,000 each in California. A free-market analysis of why the program enriches developers, not tenants.

Building material costs rose 41.6% since the pandemic. Lumber tariffs now exceed 45% on Canadian imports. Tariffs add $10,900 to every new home — a hidden tax on America's housing shortage.

The mortgage interest deduction costs taxpayers $30 billion annually but primarily benefits high-income homeowners. Research shows it doesn't increase homeownership — it increases home prices.

The average impact fee hit $16,394 per new home in 2024 — adding nearly $20,000 to the purchase price and pricing out millions of first-time buyers. A free-market analysis of a hidden housing tax.

How Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's government-backed mortgage guarantees inflate housing demand, socialize risk, and drive up home prices while taxpayers bear the downside.

The Section 8 voucher program spends $30B+ annually yet inflates rents in low-income markets. A free-market analysis of demand-side housing subsidies.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is not a market invention — it's a New Deal government creation. Today it backs $13 trillion in debt and helps inflate the very prices it promised to lower. A free-market analysis.

Proposition 13-style property tax assessment caps trap long-term homeowners in place, removing millions of homes from market circulation and driving up prices for everyone else.

Government regulations at all levels add nearly $94,000 to the price of a new home and over 40% to apartment costs. The data is unambiguous — the regulatory burden is a key driver of the housing affordability crisis.