If a Republican were the incumbent, you can be guaranteed that the Dems would be saying over and over again: “It’s the economy, stupid!”
Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather has expressed what’s going on with the economy perhaps better than anyone.
“While the economy has been improving on paper, that’s not what it feels like for a lot of U.S. families. Many renters—especially young people—still feel the rent is too damn high,” said Fairweather in a press release for a new Redfin report on rent in swing states.
“The typical swing state renter is ‘rent burdened‘—meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing—but less so than before. A swing state renter making the median income would now need to spend 36.2% of their income to rent the median-priced apartment, down from 38.5% last year and 37.8% during the prior election cycle,” reads the Redfin report.
Kamala Harris and TimWalz can shout from the rooftops until they’re hoarse that Bidenomics is “working” and that the economy is strong, but that’s not what it feels like for the average person in the U.S. Prices are at historically high levels, the dream of homeownership is gone, and there’s no relief in sight. Wishing it all away isn’t going to help and neither is Kamunism.
Business Insider reports on why housing affordability could be a key issue for swing state voters. Here’s the start of the story:
Swing states have seen a huge rise in rent prices since the 2020 election — a fact that will likely make housing affordability a key issue in this year’s presidential race, Redfin said.
The report says median asking rents in swing states have shot up almost 24% since 2020, with especially big increases in key states like Michigan.
As rent prices have climbed, housing affordability remains stretched.
Typical swing state renter households earn $50,267 a year, but to be able to afford a median-priced apartment that costs no more than 30% of that income, they would need to make $60,633, the report says.
That’s a $10,365 difference, meaning renters in swing states earn 17% less than they need to afford the typical apartment.
That deficit actually marks a slight improvement compared to the last election, when swing state renters faced a 21% difference in income and affordable rent.
The slightly improved affordability stems from gains in incomes, which have risen faster than rent prices.