Yellen announces efforts to boost the housing supply as high prices create a crunch

The Biden administration announced new steps to increase access to affordable housing as still-high prices on groceries and other necessities and high interest rates have dramatically pushed up the cost of living in the post-pandemic years.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen promoted the new investments on Monday during a visit to Minneapolis. The investments include providing $100 million through a new fund to support affordable housing financing over the next three years, boosting the Federal Financing Bank’s financing of affordable housing and other measures.

The increased attention to home prices comes as the housing crunch becomes a growing issue in this year’s general election campaign.

“We face a very significant housing supply shortfall that has been building for a long time,” Yellen said in a speech Monday afternoon. “This supply crunch has led to an affordability crunch.”