The Wall Street Journal reports today that voters in Wisconsin are “seething” over “out of control” housing prices, and that this might affect the election outcome:
Not even Midwestern manners can disguise Wisconsinites’ anger over how high housing prices have climbed. With median sale prices up 8% in the past year, according to Redfin, Wisconsin is the unhappy winner of the biggest price jump among the presidential battleground states. Prices are up here at double the U.S. average.
Here’s how the battleground states fall out:
Of course by now even most liberals have come to acknowledge that land use over-regulation is a primary driver of the lack of affordable housing. While this chart derived from the Wharton Residential land Use Regulation Index doesn’t include any Wisconsin cities, one can expect that regulation plays a large part of the story there. Building more housing might be a good campaign issue for a certain candidate who appeals to the working class, i.e., construction workers, etc.
The WSJ story makes no mention of this aspect of the problem. Instead, it reports this:
In 2012, when Harris was California’s attorney general, she negotiated a settlement with big mortgage companies to give relief to struggling homeowners. In her campaign speeches since Biden dropped out, Harris frequently brings up housing, saying she hopes to build a future where every person can afford to buy a home.
Yeah—let’s go after mortgage companies! That’ll help deliver cheaper housing prices!
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