The Problem

Affordability challenges in the United States are structural, not cyclical. They result from misaligned policies across population growth, housing, labor, and investment.

The Core Dynamic

For decades, housing costs have risen faster than wages for working Americans. This is not a temporary market condition - it reflects deep structural imbalances that have accumulated across multiple policy areas.

The fundamental problem is simple: too many people competing for too few homes, with foreign capital and institutional investors further distorting the market against American families.

No single reform can address these interconnected challenges. Only coordinated structural changes across all contributing factors can restore affordability.

Five Structural Challenges

1. Population Growth Exceeding Housing Capacity

Immigration levels have not been calibrated to housing availability. When population growth consistently exceeds construction capacity, prices rise regardless of other factors. Current policy sets immigration levels without reference to housing market conditions.

  • •From the Hart-Celler Act (1965) through 1990, average annual legal immigration was approximately 330,000 per year[1]
  • •The Immigration Act of 1990 tripled that rate: from 1991 to 2023, the average has been approximately 1,000,000 per year[2]
  • •Annual legal immigration now consistently exceeds 1 million — over 1.17 million green cards were issued in FY2023[2]
  • •No mechanism ties inflows to housing availability
  • •Demand pressure concentrates in already-constrained markets

2. Institutional Investors Converting Homes to Financial Assets

Large corporations have entered the single-family housing market at scale, acquiring homes as financial assets rather than places for families to live. This transforms the housing market into a competition between families and Wall Street.

  • •Prior to 2012, no single investor owned more than 1,000 single-family homes[4]
  • •By 2022, 32 institutional investors collectively owned 450,000 homes[4]
  • •The five largest investors alone own approximately 326,000 homes[4]
  • •Concentrated in Sunbelt markets: 25% of single-family rentals in Atlanta, 21% in Jacksonville[4]
  • •First-time buyers systematically outcompeted by all-cash institutional offers

3. Foreign Capital Competing with American Families

Non-residents and foreign investors purchase U.S. residential property as investment vehicles or safe-haven assets. This capital competes directly with American families for limited housing stock, driving up prices without adding to productive economic activity.

  • •Foreign buyers purchased 78,100 U.S. homes ($56 billion) in 2024-2025
  • •47% of foreign buyers pay all cash, compared to 28% of U.S. buyers
  • •Top sources: China ($13.7B), Canada, Mexico, India, Colombia
  • •Concentrated in Florida (20%), California (13%), Texas (11%)
  • •Shell companies obscure the true extent of foreign ownership

4. Immigration Driving Up Costs and Suppressing Wages

Excessive immigration affects affordability far beyond housing. More people means more demand for everything - food, healthcare, energy, education, transportation - driving up prices across the economy. Simultaneously, guest worker programs flood labor markets with foreign workers, suppressing wages and displacing Americans from jobs they would otherwise hold.

  • •1+ million annual immigrants add demand pressure across all goods and services
  • •H-1B workers paid 17-34% below market wages, suppressing pay for all workers in affected fields
  • •60% of H-1B positions certified at below-median wage levels
  • •Staffing firms dominate H-1B, using the program for labor arbitrage rather than exceptional talent
  • •American workers displaced or forced to accept lower wages to compete
  • •Real wage growth has stagnated while cost of living has risen

5. Local Zoning Blocking Housing Construction

Many local jurisdictions maintain policies that limit new construction, creating artificial scarcity. Even when demand and capital exist, regulatory barriers prevent housing from being built.

  • •Restrictive zoning limits housing density
  • •Lengthy permitting processes add years and costs
  • •NIMBY opposition blocks development
  • •Impact fees discourage new construction

See the Solution

Five straightforward policies to restore housing affordability.

View the Act

Sources

  1. Migration Policy Institute: Legal Immigration to the United States, 1820-Present — Annual LPR admission data; pre-1990 immigration averages
  2. DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics: Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, Table 1 (2023) — Persons obtaining lawful permanent resident status, FY 1820-2023
  3. National Association of Realtors: International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate (2024-2025) — Foreign buyer purchase data, payment methods, and geographic distribution
  4. U.S. Government Accountability Office: Rental Housing — Institutional Investment in Single-Family Homes (2024) — Institutional investor ownership data and market concentration
  5. Economic Policy Institute: H-1B Visas and Prevailing Wage Levels — 60% of H-1B positions certified at below-median wages; 17-34% wage gap