People want more affordable housing where they live

The Ipsos Consumer Tracker asks Americans questions about culture, the economy and the forces that shape our lives. Here's one thing we learned this week.

Why we asked: See our last piece. See also the Gen-X angst of “we bought our starter home right before the market crashed in 2008 and then those of us that were able to get out from that underwater madness and get our next home were super smart and did a re-fi in the pandemic at 2.x% or 3.x% and now we’ll never be able to afford to leave because mortgages have spiked” (and no, I’m not just projecting, but yes I’m also projecting.

What we found: Historically, younger Americans are more mobile than the 55+ community in that they buy and sell homes and change apartments more often. So it’s telling that more than one in three in this age group feel “stuck” because their existing mortgage is so much lower than current rates so they don’t think they can afford to leave. That, and a perceived lack of houses on the market (42% agree) is contributing to the majority of Americans (59%) saying that their community should build more affordable housing. Urban dwellers are more likely to agree, but support crosses demographics. One in three think that renting in their community is more affordable than owning. 

And since it’s come up a bunch in the election campaign, we asked people if they think the president has a lot of control over housing prices. Republicans are much more likely (45% to 33%) to think the president has an impact than Democrats. So are younger people: 58% of 18- to 34-year-olds think the White House has an impact, compared to just 25% of those 55+.

More insights from this wave of the Ipsos Consumer Tracker:

Everyone is concerned about data privacy, but the affluent are the most concerned

People still want to live in the suburbs

More plan to shop only online, but also say it’s important to shop local

The Ipsos Care-o-Meter: What does America know about vs. what does America care about?