Rising Housing Costs

Floor Speech

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Mrs. SYKES. Mr. Speaker, I often say that while my name may be on the ballot, we are all going to Congress together. Families in Ohio's 13th Congressional District and all across the country are telling us that housing costs are rising faster than wages, making it hard to keep a roof over their heads.

Today, I rise to bring an issue that plagues my community and the entire country, which is the rising cost of housing.

In my district alone, over one hundred thousand households rent their homes. The median renter household income is just above $40,000 a year, yet the median rent is more than $1,000 per month. That means housing costs are often the largest part of a monthly budget, and this is even before groceries, childcare, or healthcare.

It is not just renters who are feeling the squeeze. Homeowners are feeling the squeeze, too. The median home value in Ohio's 13th District is about $228,000. That may sound modest compared to national prices, especially for those of you on the coasts, but property taxes, insurance, utilities, and repairs add up fast. With aging homes and data centers driving up the cost of utilities, people are feeling the crunch.

For families with a mortgage, monthly housing costs average nearly $1,500, and even those who have paid off their mortgage face rising property taxes and repair costs that strain household budgets.

For families trying to buy their first home, the challenge is steeper, because mortgage rates may have dipped below 6 percent, but high prices and limited inventory keep homeownership out of reach for many in my district. We cannot ignore the inequities baked into the system.

In Ohio's 13th District, the homeownership rate overall is nearly 69 percent, but for Black families, it drops to just 37 percent, dropping by nearly half. That gap reflects generations of barriers we still have a responsibility to address, like redlining and restrictive covenants.

For some families, rising costs lead to housing instability or homelessness. That is why, last November, I pressed the Department of Housing and Urban Development to protect Federal funding and homelessness prevention programs in Summit and Stark Counties. These continuum of care dollars support nearly 2,700 beds in my district for families, veterans, and young people who need a safe place to sleep. Any cut could disrupt services that people depend on and, most importantly, keep them without a roof over their head.

We also have to confront the root causes of this crisis. Large corporate investors are buying up single-family homes, driving up prices and rents, and locking families out of homeownership.

That is why, last summer, I introduced the HOMES Act, which cracks down on investors buying 50 or more single-family homes, shines a light on corporate ownership and rental practices, and makes sure local families, not profit-seeking investors, get first access to homeownership. People simply cannot compete with these for- profit corporations, and every family deserves a place to call home.

Just last week, President Trump acknowledged the same problem and called on Congress to address it. On this issue, it seems we may finally all be reading from the same page.

I encourage my colleagues to support the HOMES Act and see its swift passage, but we also need to build homes, too. Supply simply has not met the demand. That is why I secured Federal funding for the East Akron Neighborhood Development Corporation to help expand affordable housing, revitalize neighborhoods, and create jobs. Increasing supply is essential if we want housing prices to come down.

As chair of the New Democrat Coalition's Affordable Housing Task Force, I helped develop a housing action plan with more than 20 recommendations to increase housing supply, reform zoning and permitting, strengthen Federal incentives, grow the construction workforce, and improve transparency.

Mr. Speaker, housing is the foundation of opportunity. Homeownership is the primary way in which families build wealth. When housing is affordable and stable, families can plan, save, and build a future. When it is not, life becomes harder. Rents are too high. Mortgages are still out of reach for far too many families. Property taxes and repairs are stretching household budgets. Homelessness programs that protect our most vulnerable neighbors must be preserved.

Mr. Speaker, we have to get serious about housing and focus our attention on lowering the cost of housing and keeping housing accessible to everyone. The American Dream depends on it.

Every family deserves a safe and affordable place to call home, and this House has a responsibility to help make that possible. Until housing costs come down, Congress has a lot more work to do. I look forward to working with this body on behalf of my constituents and across the country to work to reduce housing costs so everyone can live their American Dream wherever they choose to call home.

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