Housing Research

According to Qualtrics, Americans, on average, spend ~ 32.9% of their income on housing.  Americans typically spend $25,436 a year on housing and, on average, spend $77,280 a year. This means that, on average, Americans spend 2,120 dollars a month on rent/housing. The second most expensive expense is transportation, at 17% or $13,174 per year. To fix this issue, the plan would be to build more houses, townhouses, and condos for permanent housing. For rental buildings to be more affordable, mid-range and slightly above mid-range housing will dramatically lower housing costs and help make it easier for people to live. Housing costs are the biggest proportion of costs for all income levels. (February 2025) The average house price according to Zillow is 357,445$ dollars, which has risen by .2% in the last year. In 2020, the average house price was, according to Zillow, ~244,000$. The median rent across the United States is $1,357 dollars a month. Rent has fallen from its peak, since 2022, by 5.9% of the previous number! This is great news! The median rent is down by 85$ dollars a month since the 2022 peak. Aiming for a median rent goal, even lower than 1,300$ dollars a month or 15,600 dollars a year, would be a big deal, and that goal, or lower, would be very helpful! Building more houses, 500,000 houses at a price of 350,000 dollars, 250,000 houses at 450,000 dollars, and 250,000 houses at 600,000 dollars would build an important addition and build a total of 1,000,000 houses. The current housing shortage is between 4 and 7 million units, and this would greatly help housing prices and address this shortage. Building houses on appropriate land and being environmentally conscious are very important. It is also important to consider neighbors and other key points.  Finally, it’s important to recognize that the key is to LOWER house prices and address the housing shortage. The current house shortage is ~ 1.25 million homes in the South, but it’s relatively the worst in the Northeast. The key to solving this is building them in appropriate areas and tearing down unlivable homes and building new homes in those areas. The key to this is building them in the most environmentally conscious areas, closest to metros, and also in livable areas. Tearing down unlivable homes and building new homes on top will lessen the housing shortage. Some old malls have gone out of business and have been replaced by new malls, tearing them down. It would be possible to build 250-1,500 townhomes at least on top of old malls. Building 15%-25% affordable homes and affordable apartments is key to allowing less income-advantaged people to prosper.