But things haven't gone quite to plan so far. The spike in energy prices resulting from the war in Iran has created unanticipated barriers. Mortgage rates are going up, not down. Higher costs for oil mean the cost of almost everything goes up, complicating budgeting for a home purchase.
Underlying these more recent concerns are long-term questions about housing supply and affordability. In 39 states, almost two-thirds of households can't afford to buy a median-priced home in the community where they live. A February 2026 survey by the brokerage website Redfin found that half of all Americans struggle to cover their rents or mortgages. For GenZers, it's more than two-thirds.
Researchers at the Boston University Initiative on Cities recently asked mayors for their views on the causes of the housing crisis and policies that could making housing more affordable. Every leader of a city over 75,000 — more than 500 mayors in all — was invited to participate in the 2025 Menino Survey of Mayors. "Survey research shows that Americans often do not believe that increasing the housing supply will reduce housing prices," said the authors. The survey was designed to examine how mayors see this relationship, and to elicit their views on policies known to increase supply.
Just over 100 mayors spoke to researchers, from cities with an average population around 200,000. The great majority (69 percent) were Democrats, essentially the same as the national share of Democratic mayors in cities of this size.
In some cases, views of causes and remedies for housing shortages differed considerably by party. Far more Democratic mayors believed that not enough housing is being built, and many more felt that wages aren’t keeping up with housing prices. The survey found strong agreement on some points. Eight in 10 mayors agree that there is a shortage of multifamily housing in their cities. A similar share agreed that more housing should be built near transit stations and jobs. Six in 10 said more rental housing was needed.
There’s less agreement about policies that lead to the construction of more multifamily housing, such as changes to residential zoning or converting parking lots or commercial properties to housing. (See chart.) The great majority of residential land in America's cities — almost three-fourths — is zoned for single-family dwellings. Researchers believe this to be a primary impediment to multifamily housing development. Two bills before Congress that address housing costs call for zoning code updates. However, only 5 percent of Republican mayors felt that zoning limits supply.
David Glick, one of the Menino report authors, sees potential for closing partisan gaps. Deregulation is a case in point — not just single-family zoning, but loosening other restrictions around building and permitting. "Many of the more progressive supply side solutions are also kind of deregulatory," he says. "The hope is that there is potential for agreement about cutting regulations."
Opening the door for property owners to build accessory dwelling units on their lots is one of the least controversial deregulatory steps. “The grandmother situation [granny flat] resonates more than ‘let’s let people build fourplexes,’” Glick says.
One finding that stood out to the researchers, Glick says, is that almost no mayors (3 percent) felt that competition for housing from immigrants was a factor in affordability. (Some, including Vice President JD Vance, have claimed that illegal immigration is a primary cause of rising home costs.)
Overall, the researchers believe mayors are learning more about housing in their cities and possibilities for reform. Even so, they say, “Mayors do not always connect their understanding of housing markets with optimal policy solutions.”
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