Harris: Down Payment Assistance Won’t Raise Prices Because It Increases Demand, Which Will Impact Supply

On Tuesday’s broadcast of New York’s Power 105.1’s “The Breakfast Club,” 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris argued that her proposed down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers won’t “have an unintended effect, because that increases the demand for home ownership, which is going to have an impact, also, on supply.” And talked about parts of her plan to boost housing supply.

Harris said, “$25,000 down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, let me tell you why that’s not going to have an unintended effect, because that increases the demand for home ownership, which is going to have an impact, also, on supply. What we are — part of my plan — I’ve been in public service my entire career, but I know the limitations of government. So, part of my plan for affordable housing is to work with homebuilders and developers to give them tax credits to create incentives for them to build more homes. But I’m going to tell you another part of my perspective on this, I also know that, in particular, for high rent, a lot of it has to do with corporations that are buying up all this housing and then eliminating competition and jacking up rent. And part of my plan is to also go after them.”

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