At the World Economic Forum in Switzerland Wednesday, President Donald Trump outlined plans for bringing homeownership within reach of more Americans. They included pushing for lower interest rates on home loans and credit cards, and banning large institutional investors from buying single-family homes.
Each had been previously mentioned in recent weeks. They are part of a broader push to address affordability generally. This is a hot-button issue with voters heading into the midterms.
Experts like Tobias Pfutze, an associate professor of economics at Florida International University, say the proposal has its downsides.
“The idea that prices can fall back to a level from like five, six years ago is illusory,” said Pfutze. “That would even be a big problem, because this is what in economics is called deflation, which causes all kinds of other economic problems.”
The White House said that President Trump will reveal more about his affordability policy soon, but few changes can be made without Congressional approval.
