2026: The Year Of Affordability

The new year has begun, and it is predicted that AFFORDABILITY will be the Number One issue as it relates to housing....everywhere. (We are speaking about affordability for the 'real people', not those who are worth tens/hundreds/thousands of millions of dollars.....the 99%, those with a net worth below $5m! ) Why?

1.  This is a Midterm election year. Housing has proven to be the #1 driver of inflation that remains persistent. The issue of housing affordability resulted in some surprising election results in 2025. Anyone who wishes to win an election this year (or next) will need to have some serious, practical solutions to offer, not just political or ideological dreams.

2.  Mortgage rates are coming down a wee bit, and the financing rates to build homes too.....this could help offset the damage of the higher tariffs on construction goods and the impact of the loss of construction workers due to deportations, especially at a time when we are building tons of tech infrastructure, not to mention bridges, roads, etc from the 2021 Infrastructure bill.

3.  Wages have been rising over the past 2-3 years and are finally catching up with higher costs.

4.  In areas where there is over-supply, especially areas where people paid a huge premium to buy in the 2020-2024 covid-fueled-migration-moment that triggered excessive inflation, with buyers used to spending habits formed in much pricier areas they were moving from, prices have already come down and may dip further.

5.  While federally forced local re-zoning and regulation is in the cards, the impact to actually deliver more affordable homes will take years, not months. More density, simpler regulatory requirements, faster approvals, etc could deliver more affordable entry-level homes....over time.

The bottom line: too high a percentage of the 340 million US peeps are struggling to afford the basics, and housing is eating away at this. The challenge is enormous, especially amongst those wishing everyone to be renters-for-life and builders intent on only building more expensive, more profitable properties. Yes, of course, affordability does impact wealthier people too: Ultra-luxe segments have witnessed hyper-luxe-flation, and yes, there will be areas where prices will go up, up up as replacement costs become prohibitive and the impatience for doing renovation work grows......but does this mean less affordable when incomes and assets are rising too?