A leading real estate CEO has warned that the extraordinary economic measures deployed during the Covid-19 pandemic have pushed U.S. housing costs to historic highs, leaving millions shut out of homeownership.
Pandemic Policies Created Historic Affordability Squeeze, CEO Says
Sean Dobson, CEO of the Amherst Group, said the country is now grappling with “the cost of economic policy response to COVID,“ reported The Fortune.
He argued that emergency stimulus and ultralow interest rates inflated home prices far beyond what typical families can reach.
"We've probably made housing unaffordable for a whole generation of Americans," he told ResiClub's Lance Lambert at the ResiDay conference.
Mortgage Burdens Hit Levels Worse Than 2006 Housing Bubble
Dobson said affordability has "never been as bad as it is today," noting that the share of income needed for a typical FHA mortgage has surpassed even the peak of the mid-2000s housing frenzy.
Amherst estimates that principal, interest, taxes and insurance now consume roughly 43% of median income, well above long-term norms.
He blamed a mix of pandemic-era monetary policy, surging asset prices and stagnant wage growth.
"You're so far away from fair value," he said, adding that only major shifts in prices, rates or incomes could bring relief, none of which are likely soon.
Trump Mortgage Plan Sparks Fierce Backlash Over Debt
President Donald Trump's proposal for 50-year mortgages, pitched as a fix for housing affordability, triggered strong criticism from conservatives, economists and lawmakers.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) warned it would trap families "in debt forever" and instead urged limits on corporate home-buying and capital gains tax cuts.
Investor Kevin O'Leary also called the plan unrealistic, arguing that, with inflation high and interest rates unlikely to fall, borrowers would pay far more over time to lower monthly payments.
He said the policy ignored financial reality for first-time buyers, quipping, "You will be dead before the mortgage is paid off."
But Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said that Trump's tariffs were already pushing housing costs higher, arguing his policies were making both building and buying homes more expensive.
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