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Survey: Homeowners think Trump better for housing market, renters think Biden

A new survey from Redfin revealed that more homeowners expect President Donald Trump to be better for the housing market than challenger Joe Biden if he is reelected, while more renters believe Biden will be better for the market.

The survey of more than 3,000 adult Americans was conducted in early October. According to its results, 44% of homeowners believe returning Trump to the Oval Office would be better for the housing market than Biden, while only 35% indicated that the former vice president would benefit the market more. Conversely, just 28% of renters believe Trump is better for the market, compared to 45% for Biden.

The stark divide left the two candidates essentially tied on who will all respondents believed would be better for the housing market.

“The current housing shortage and affordability crisis has been decades in the making,” said Daryl Fairweather, Redfin chief economist. “Neither Republican or Democratic presidents have solved the problem of housing costs rising faster than incomes, so it’s not surprising that so many people believe neither candidate will help the housing market. But it should be encouraging that both candidates have brought up housing during their campaigns in recognition that housing policy is of national importance.”

When it comes to the question of which candidate would be better specifically for homeowners, the incumbent once again comes out on top. Forty-two percent of respondents said they expect Trump will be better for homeowners, compared to 38% for Biden. Among respondents who are homeowners, that lead widens: 46% of homeowners expect Trump to be better for themselves, as opposed to 36% who expect Biden to be better. When just renters are polled, however, 45% expect Biden to be better for homeowners, compared to just 31% for Trump.

When asked which candidate will be better for renters, Biden’s advantage swells. Forty-nine percent of renters expect Biden will be better for renters, while just 25% of renters said the same about Trump. Asked the same question, homeowners are close to evenly split.

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“Trump has promised to preserve suburban home values, and Biden has promised to do away with exclusionary housing policies that limit housing available for low-income renters,” explained Fairweather. “Those campaign promises explain in part why people believe Trump would be better for homeowners, but Biden would be better for renters.”

Voters supporting each candidate were split on government policy relating to housing. People who indicated they are voting for Biden were more likely to support government housing programs such as downpayment assistance (61% in support), incentives for low income housing (73%) and incentives for building any type of housing (66%). Trump voters were far less likely to support such policies, with 43% in support of downpayment assistance and 49% favoring incentives for either low income housing or any type of housing in general.

When it comes to zoning for more density in their own neighborhoods, though, both camps were in relative agreement, with just 32% of Biden voters and 24% of Trump voters in favor.

“Housing is one of the few types of policies that does not fall neatly into liberal or conservative camps,” said Fairweather. “While many Americans across both major parties can agree that there’s a need for more housing—particularly affordable housing—both Democrats and Republicans are reluctant to see their own neighborhoods become more dense. This will be a challenge for those elected into local, state and federal offices next week, but hopefully politicians will work together to create bipartisan housing reforms like down-payment assistance or incentives to build more affordable homes.”

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