Housing costs in the states most likely to determine this year’s presidential election have risen by 92 percent since 2020, according to data from Redfin.
The median monthly housing payment for homebuyers in this year’s swing states — Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina — is now at an all-time high of $2,161 as home prices and mortgage rates have increased.
A family in a swing state needs to earn at least $86,421 a year if they want to follow the commonly accepted rule that households should spend 30 percent of their income on housing, according to Redfin.
That’s nearly double the income a family in a swing state needed in 2020 — $45,140.
This increase in cost has made housing unaffordable for the average family in swing states if they only want to spend 30 percent of their income on their home.
American families living in swing states earning a median income of $79,155 a year now need to spend 32.8 percent of their income to afford an average home. In 2020, those same families would have had to spend 21.8 of their income on a home, Redfin found.
Black and Hispanic families in swing states need to allot even more of their income on housing than White or Asian American families, Redfin found.
Black families in a swing state earning the median income for Black households would have to spend about half of their earnings — 48.2 percent — to afford a typical home. In 2020, those same families would have needed to spend 32.7 percent of their income on a home.
The average Hispanic family in a swing state would need to spend 38.3 percent of their annual income to pay the costs associated with a median-priced home while in 2020 they would have had to pay 26.8 percent, according to Redfin.
The housing affordability crisis in the U.S. has become a top issue for voters and is especially important among young voters.
More than nine out of 10 Gen Zers say housing affordability will be important when deciding who to vote for in this year’s presidential election.
“Voters in swing states care about housing affordability because soaring home prices and mortgage rates, along with a shortage of homes for sale, have made homeownership feel impossible for some Americans,” said Elijah de la Campa, senior economist at Redfin. "That’s especially true for young people who are earning low incomes and haven’t yet built up their savings, making them feel it would be an uphill battle to reach their parents’ level of financial success.”
