Biden starts making his affordable housing pitch on the trail

Joe Biden is ramping up efforts to show he’s focused on alleviating the nationwide housing crunch, amid worries that rising home prices could dent the economic case at the center of his reelection bid.

The president on Tuesday will call for greater action to lower the cost of housing, using a speech in Nevada to spotlight new proposals he argues would make it easier for Americans to find and afford a home.

“We know we need to increase housing supply to ensure that we can bring down the rents and the cost of homeownership,” Domestic Policy Council Director Neera Tanden said on a call previewing the president's remarks. “That is the premier objective of this administration.”

Biden has made cutting consumer costs a central element of his economic case for reelection, touting his efforts to ease inflation over the last two years without tipping the U.S. into a recession.

But while prices have eased more broadly, housing costs continue to rise — a challenge that officials believe is dragging on consumer sentiment and, by extension, their opinion of Biden's presidency.

Housing costs accounted for roughly two-thirds of the country’s annual inflation in February. The availability of homes remains limited nationwide, while high mortgage rates mean fewer people are willing and able to buy or sell houses. In Nevada, considered one of a handful of crucial swing states, home prices have soared since the pandemic amid a supply shortage that's made affordable housing increasingly difficult to find.

The White House earlier this month called for major new housing investments in its annual budget proposal, including incentives to promote construction and tax credits aiding lower-income renters and first-time homebuyers.

Biden on Tuesday will press Congress to pass legislation incorporating those ideas, officials said, casting the housing crisis as a bipartisan issue — though Republicans wary of aiding Biden's reelection effort have shown little appetite for any major legislative push ahead of November.

“Our hope is that people throughout the country really recognize this challenge, and Congress should as well,” a senior administration official said on the call with reporters.

Biden during his speech is also expected to praise a recent settlement with the National Association of Realtors that would upend a lucrative commission system that critics argued inflated the cost of housing. The settlement will help boost competition, the administration believes, and Biden is expected to call on realtors and lenders to respond by lowering costs and creating new savings for customers.