Is the Housing Crisis Getting Better or Worse?

Simultaneously declining mortgage and homeownership rates highlight the housing market's ambiguous future.

Mortgage Rates: The 30-year fixed mortgage rate decreased continually over the last three weeks after a rise in March, most recently falling to 6.23% from 6.3%. The drop also marks a decrease from 6.81% one year ago. The 15-year fixed mortgage rate also decreased last week to 5.58% from 5.65%, marking another year-over-year decrease from 5.94%. Additionally, a report published by the White House in February touted the lowest national median rent since 2022.

Homeownership: On the other hand, homeownership rates between 2000 and 2022 decreased 8-10% across all age groups, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the American Enterprise Institute Housing Center. Fox Business (Lean Right bias) cited the "massive divergence between what Americans take home and what homes actually cost," with median home prices increasing from 4.3 times a household's income in 2003 to just under 6 times a household's income in 2026. Data suggested that housing supply shortages – particularly with starter homes – are a major proponent of the issue. In 2025, US home sales fell to their slowest rate since 2009, and homeownership rates decreased for the first time since 2016. 

Trump's Actions So Far: Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" expanded the low-income housing tax credit and increased certain tax breaks through the raised State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction. Trump also signed an executive order on his first day in office that ordered "emergency price relief" to lower housing costs and increase supply, but few immediate follow-up actions were taken. Amid voters' nationwide affordability concerns toward the end of his first year back in office, Trump promised "some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history" for 2026. As a follow-up to that promise in January, he signed an executive order to bar corporate purchases of single-family homes. 

New Economic Report: The White House released the 2026 Economic Report of the President in April. The report touted Trump's extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that promoted "Opportunity Zones," the first round of which "directed $89 billion in investment into distressed communities." It criticized the governance of Democrat-run states such as New York and California, and outlined plans to impose deregulatory measures and boost the housing supply across the US. 

RELATED: Track Trump's Campaign Promises on Affordable Housing | AllSides

How The Media Covered It: Media outlets across the political spectrum, including the White House's official website, use the term "crisis" when referring to the US housing market. Outlets on the left are more staunchly critical of how Trump's involvement in the Iran War has impacted the housing market. Associated Press (Left bias), for example, said, "The war has ratcheted up worries over higher inflation and the trajectory of the economy at a time when consumers are feeling less confident about the job market. That, plus the volatility in mortgage rates, has clouded the outlook for the spring homebuying."

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